La Grange home sales catching up to last year

La Grange homes earlier this month on South Catherine near the desirable downtown shopping and restaurant district (all photos Eric Rojas, Broker, Kale Realty).

Hello! I have not been posting much nor have I been very active on social media during the last few months.  As you can imagine... there's been stuff to deal with! Luckily our family, friends and neighborhood business folks have been doing relatively well.  I've been in charge of our four kids throughout the pandemic while my wife handled urgent work as a nursing director.  Despite the pandemic conditions our real estate business has not slowed down. We've been helping clients make educated choices in the city and suburbs while the world seemed to go sideways.

Lately we've been in the Western Suburbs. La Grange, Western Springs, Hinsdale and nearby towns like Countryside have been popular with our clients that decide to decamp from city life.  The number one question we get is "How is the market doing?".  La Grange has been relatively steady in the face of the pandemic market.

La Grange Single Family Home Sales

73 single family homes have sold thus far (January 1st to June 19th) with a median price of $525,000.  96 homes sold over the same period with a median price about $545,000.  Considering the extreme conditions these numbers are barely off last year.  I can say anecdotally we have seen an increased number of listings hitting the market and selling since late May.  I think the overall sales and prices for 2020 will end up very close to last year. All stats pulled and analyzed from MREDLLC.com.

A vintage home with an updated kitchen near the La Grange downtown.

The highest priced La Grange single family home to sell this year is 120 South Kensington, La Grange, IL 60525 for $1,087,000. The downtown high-end 1999 build is elegant as well as spacious. The lowest priced sale is 211 Hayes Avenue, La Grange, IL 60525 for only $107,000. The foreclosure sale adjacent to the freight train tracks was bought cash. I'd guess this would be an investor purchase for value add and rental.

Plywood and condo sales along Halsted Street, Lincoln Park

Many small independent businesses along the 2100 block of North Halsted were still boarded up on Monday.  The absence of foot traffic mid-day and the plywood covered windows was off putting. I look forward to our vibrant city coming back better after the pandemic and social unrest.

We had condo showings along North Halsted Street in Lincoln Park on Monday. Halsted Street runs directly down the middle of the neighborhood splitting it into east and west sections.  Like many areas of the city these past few months it feels different. Despite the plywood to prevent potential vandalism and the sparse foot traffic... condo sales must go on. Here's a look at the market along Halsted Street in the heart of Lincoln Park.

North Halsted Street, Lincoln Park Condo Sales (West North Avenue to West Diversey Parkway)

Chez Moi at 2100 N Halsted in a classic Lincoln Park four unit mixed use building. My wife and I would visit the old Café Bernard and Red Rooster Wine Bar in the space. The bustle, charm, food and services of Halsted Street all contribute to the real estate value.

52 attached units (condos, town homes) sold on North Halsted Street in Lincoln Park over the last twelve months. The median price of a sold condo along this strip is about $562,500. The highest closed condo price is $2,165,000 at 1851 N Halsted Street, Unit 2, Chicago, IL 60614. The recent new construction full floor unit is marketed at 4,000 sq/ft and resides in Oscar Mayer Elementary School district.

The lowest priced sale is $200,000 at 2225 N Halsted Street, Unit 27, Chicago IL 60614.

Four units are currently under contract with asking prices from $625,000 to $1,250,000. Thirteen condos are currently listed for sale along the Halsted strip with asking prices from $255,000 to $1,650,000.

"Blue collar" Gold Coast corner demolished, apartments coming to State and Divison

The corner at 1200 N State Street and several other addresses in Gold Coast under re-development. The new development address would be 1212 N State and feature around 90 apartments. 

A rather pedestrian corner in high-end Gold Coast is being developed. It seems like a lifetime ago we captured a few photos of demolition in progress at State and Division. Many bars and shops have graced the corner. A Chase Bank branch too.  Here's a great post about what was there. I hope to pass by there again soon and check on the progress. According to reports the corner properties were purchased for $20 million.

I may have wandered in and out of the pubs along this stretch of State Street in simpler times.

Looking eastward on West Division Street.

A rendering of what is to come and construction updates at the 2nd Ward web site.  

Home sales in Oak Park's Washington Irving school district (sales and prices steady)

Beautiful "Four Squares" with typical mature landscaping in Oak Park taken over the weekend. 

We are working with clients who will list their home for sale in Oak Park's Washington Irving Elementary School district. Despite the coronavirus pandemic unit sales and median price have been steady year to year.

Twenty-two single family homes have sold this year (January 1st to May 31st). The median price of a sold home is about $375,000. The highest priced sold house is 1114 S Scoville sold for $868,000. The new construction five bedrooms home sits on a 33'x126' lot.  1175 S Harvey is the lowest priced sold house at $190,000... quite the bargain!

Sales activity and median price have held up year to year. In 2019 twenty-six  homes closed over the same period with a median price of about $375,000 as well.

Two of many, many frame cottages just south of West Madison in Oak Park

Irving School District Single Family Home Sales January 1st to May 31st
(2020) 22 houses sold, median price $375,000
(2019) 26 houses sold, median price $375,000
(2018) 26 houses sold, median price $355,000
(2017) 19 homes sold, median price $335,000
(2016) 17 homes sold, median price $335,000

Breaking down South Loop attached condo / town house sales (unit sales down about 20%)

South Loop attached units sales (condos, town homes) January 1st to May 19th.

South Loop attached unit sales and median price has dipped year to year. Unit sales are down about 20% and median price down about $15,000. These are pretty steady numbers considering the pause when the pandemic was declared. 

198 condos and attached town homes have sold so far this year. The median price of a closed unit is about $370,000.  Median price for one bedroom units is about $265,000, two beds about $400,000, three beds jumps to about $682,000 and four beds or more about $800K.

246 units sold over the same period in 2019 with a median price of about $385,000.

April and May Closings
49 units closed in April this year while 68 units closed in 2019.  23 units closed from May 1st to May 19th this year while 47 units sold over the same period in 2019. 


I've been reading many indicators that this may be the bottom of the coronavirus affected sales. Our MREDLLC.com / Chicago Association of Realtor stats indicate that Chicago purchase contracts have been up for four straight weeks.

We see from the graph the solid lines (contracts) trending up and catching up to same period last year.

Western Springs home sales remain steady year to year

Clients of our occasionally move back home to their Western Springs/ La Grange roots. We helped our clients buy this home in Western Springs in 2017. 

Several of our clients grew up in the suburb Western Springs, Illinois. Occasionally clients who bought their first Chicago condo with us will decide to head back to live closer to their parents (and "maybe" get a little childcare help). This year a South Loop faithful home owner is eyeing their suburban roots.

Western Spring Single Family Home Sales (Jan 1st to May 19th)
Western Springs has fared well during the current pandemic market. 64 single family homes have closed in Western Springs this year. The median price of a closed home is about $587,000. The highest priced sale is 5132 Woodland, Western Springs IL 60558 for $1,925,724. The top three sellers are new construction homes. The lowest priced sold home is 3911 Garden Avenue, Western Springs IL 60558 for $170,000. The home was marketed as complete gut renovation or tear down.

Over the same period of 2019 (Jan 1st to May 19th) 65 homes sold with a median price of about $615,000.  Unit sales were almost identical to last year (65 to 64). That's a surprising fact when many people in the market paused by mid March. May? June closings may be affected if less homes went under contract in April.

36 Western Springs homes are currently under contract with a median asking price of about $669,900. 55 homes are currently listed for sale with a median asking price of $690,000.

YESTERDAY, a quirky Wrigleyville mainstay, set to be demolished

The YESTERDAY building at 1143 West Addison is under contract and will be demolished. A building permit was issued... yesterday... for a new construction three-flat all too common in the Wrigleyville neighborhood of Lakeview. I stopped over today with my two youngest sons for a few last photos.

Frame multi-unit rental buildings still hanging in there on each side of YESTERDAY. They probably get an offer everyday to sell for a larger development but now the contingent lots are broken up.

The property sits on a 25'x122' lot zoned RT4 and is under contract with an asking price of $599,900 according to the MLS (we won't know the final price until the closing is recorded). There are a good number of newer construction three-unit condo buildings lining West Addison. However, many frame and grey-stone multi-units remain along with vintage grey-stone and brick single family homes along this path to Wrigley Field. There is still some charm in Mudville.

You get a glimpse of newer construction three-flats to the left background of the photo.

The median price of a sold condo on the 1000-1600 blocks of West Addison is about $400K over the last 24 months while the highest priced condo sold for $912,000 over that period.

About four years ago my oldest son bought a pack of 1987 Topps baseball cards and tried the gum! It was not chewable. This may be my last favorite iconic dump in Wrigleyville to bite the dust.  First Yum Yum Donuts that use to be in front of Wrigley Field and now YESTERDAY.

East Lincoln Park grey-stone sells for $2,200,000, will be demolished

438 West St. James Place is scheduled for demolition (All photos Eric Rojas, Broker, Kale Realty)

Another East Lincoln Park vintage grey-stone will be torn down. 438 West St. James Place was purchased in 2019 for $2,200,000. A demolition permit was issued at the end of last month and I noticed the fences up yesterday. I do not see any building permits yet for the address. The 33'x146' lot size with RM-6 would allow for a large new construction home. I could also see a high-end four-flat developed here.

The home is adjacent to a large multi-unit to the west and the Mansueto mansion garage entrance to the east. 

The vintage grey-stone was fully renovated circa 2000. The desirable lot sits between the vintage multi-unit building to the west and the newer build Mansueto mansion to the east. Here's a post I did about that house and the area in 2015. The house was sold to Dio Realty LLC... I'm a bit surprised Mansueto did not buy the property (assuming Dio Realty is not associated but I could be wrong).

The Mansueto mansion takes up half the block.

The modern colossal sit among mostly vintage homes on St James Place.

400 block of West St. James Place neighbors

Lincoln Square / Bowmanville two-flat on 60' wide lot sells for $950,000, torn down for new condos

New construction condos at 2046 West Foster. Top floors have rooftop decks with very nice views of Winnemac Park. All photos Eric Rojas, Broker, Kale Realty.

A six unit condo building nears completion at 2046 West Foster in the Bowmanville neighborhood of Lincoln Square. The property has nice views overlooking Winnemac Park. The attractive vintage two-flat building that formerly sat on a 60' wide (better than double lot) had sold twice since 2017 and then was torn down.

2046 West Foster in Lincoln Square was sold twice in two years then developed. The original two-flat had was attractive and appeared higher-end in construction than the average brick two-flat. The wide double lot made it even more desirable.

2046 West Foster a 60'x 125' lot with existing two-flat was sold in 2017 (apparently before it went to open market ) for $725,000. $362,500 per 30' wide lot is a decent deal in Lincoln Square even for busy West Foster Ave. considering the potential for development (the original property was zoned RS3 single family of two-flat). Up-zoning to larger multi-unit on this stretch of Foster is usually common and approved.

The property was sold once again in 2019 for a hefty $950,000! Again it was sold prior to going to the greater market on the MLS.

The property overlooks Winnemac Park. Not the best photo of the park on a grey day. Soccer field in the foreground. The top floors will get really nice views of the changing colors throughout the year.

The six unit building nears completion. I have not been able to locate any advertising for the units for sale as of yet.

104 condos have closed to date this year in Lincoln Square (Jan 1st through April 10th). The median price of a closed condo is $312,000. 125 condo units sold over the same period of last year with a median price about $302,000. 

The top floor units will probably be listed in the low mid $600s. A top floor newer construction three bedrooms, two baths condo with rooftop deck just down West Foster similar to 2046 W Foster sold earlier this year for $615,000.

Lincoln Park Q1 2020 condo sales up 8%... then there's April

The Orchard condo homes in Lincoln Park are taking full shape as part of the Lincoln Common development. 32 units are advertised starting around $1.5 million. 

First Quarter Lincoln Park sales were looking good. 215 Lincoln Park condos (attached units, townhouses) closed in First Quarter of 2020. That's up 8.6% from First Quarter 2019 (198 closed).
April was the first full calendar month of sales since the Illinois stay-at-home order took effect.

April condo closings in Lincoln Park were down 28%. 111 condo units closed April 2020.  154 units closed April of 2019. For some perspective:

• April Lakeview condo closings were down 6%. 
• Near North April condo sales were down 40%.  
• Lincoln Square had 34 condo closings in both April 2019 and 2020. 
• North Center had the same amount of April closings with 42 units closed in both 2019 and 2020.

We've been busy in Lincoln Park over the First Quarter of 2020. Lately we have been doing showings for an out of state client that needs to move to Chicago.  We've conducted video walk-through tours (with my commentary) to the enjoyment of our buyers. A couple condos we showed near the end of April sold within the first couple weeks of listing on the market. Some folks are taking advantage of low mortgage interest rates and better values than they would have found in the beginning of the year.