Deals Galore With Glut of Downtown Luxury Condos
Chicago Home Prices Finally Double Since 2000
According to March data from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, Chicago home prices here are now two times what they were as the year 2000 began. Finally, Chicago home prices have risen to record highs seen by other American cities long ago.
In March, the index for Chicago crossed 200 for the first time, to 201.46. The index shows January 2000 as 100.
San Francisco crossed the 200 mark in January 2015. Phoenix also crossed the 200 line in 2005, only to cross it again in January 2020.
Nationwide, home prices have more than tripled since early 2000. The nationwide index for March is 315, according to today’s S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices release. In San Francisco, the index is at 355. San Diego’s prices have grown the most so far in this century; its index in March was 438, meaning prices have quadrupled since early 2000. The index is above 400 for Los Angeles and Miami as well.
Among the 20 major U.S. cities the index tracks, only two have not yet seen prices double since 2000. They are Cleveland, indexed at 185, and Detroit, indexed at 181.
In Chicago, the index was up 8.7% in March compared to a year earlier. Boston had the same figure, and four cities had higher-rising prices. San Diego was up 11.1%, followed by New York (9.2%) and Los Angeles and Cleveland (both 8.8%). Nationwide, home prices were up 6.5% in March, according to the index.
March was the fourth consecutive month with increases of 8% or more in Chicago, after rising from September’s home price growth of 4.4% to November’s 7%.
Metro-area Prices Highest On Record
The median price of all homes sold in April in the nine-county metropolitan area was $350,000, according to data released May 22 by Illinois Realtors, a statewide professional group.
That’s a pinch higher than the record set last June when the median price of homes sold during the month was $349,990. Home prices cycle lower in the cold months. In December, for example, the median price was $306,000.
In Chicago, the median price of homes sold in April was $370,000, tying the record set precisely two years earlier, in April 2022.
Sales Volume Up A Bit
In 2024, sales were up 5% from a year ago but still well below the overall norm. Prior to the pandemic, the metro sales figure was typically over 10,000 in April, compared to just over 8,000 this year.
In the city, April 2023 was the lowest-selling April since 2012 in the metro area. That is besides April 2020, when the housing market and particularly the condo market paused in the early days of the pandemic.