Monday, December 28, 2009

Lincoln Square, Ravenswood pending contracts...Bueller? Bueller?

Please note that I combine the community area of Lincoln Square with the sub-neighborhood of Ravenswood together in my sales analysis. Ravenswood officially overlaps into the Uptown community area east of North Ravenswood Avenue (1800 N ). However, for practical purposes I group everything west of North Ashland Avenue (a busy four lane artery street) and North of Montrose Avenue with the Lincoln Square community area.




With the passing of the original deadline for the first-time buyer's credit behind us, I thought I'd take a look at the current number of pending and contingent (under contract) condo units and single family homes in greater Lincoln Square and Ravenswood. We saw a large increase in closed unit sales for October and November compared to the same months of 2008 due to several factors I've discussed on these pages. Of course, fall 2008 had that little banking crash too. Regardless of the current pending contracts (most of which will close next year) we will have seen a better than average activity in the fourth quarter 2009 at years end.



Currently, there are 30 condos and or town home units under contract in the greater Lincoln Square community area with a median asking price of $249,000 (this includes the Ravenswood neighborhood bordering North Ashland and portions of Bud Long Woods neighborhood to the northwest). The median price is deceiving as it reflects a very diverse stock of homes within the large community.



The highest priced attached unit is 2326 W Giddings #305, a two bedrooms, two bathrooms new construction condo under contract for (gulp!) $509,900 plus parking. There is a home sale contingency on the deal... so they are waiting patiently to close that. It's probably the southeast top floor unit (I should check on that, eh?). [This just in from Fountain View's developer on 1/4/09, the #305 unit under contract is a third floor middle unit and #205 is recently under contract for $499,000]. The unit is in the Fountain View development in the heart of Lincoln Square retail and entertainment.





On the flip side, the bottom four condos under contract are all distressed one bedroom units in the 2400-2405 block of W Balmoral (three i the same condo building)in northwest Lincoln Square for under $50,000. Yep. A tale of two cities for sure.






Only ten single family homes are under contract in the Lincoln Square community area (including the Ravenswood neighborhood from North Ashland going west). Most interesting is the fact that four of those homes are under contract for over one million ($1,195,000 to $1,375,000) and spread out from north to south across Ravenswood and Lincoln Square proper. One of the homes is a short sale at $1,359,000.

The bottom five out of six home sales in price are either bank owned, forced sale or short sales ranging from $234,900 to $650,000. Absent is any home under contract between the price of $650,000 to $1,195,000.

So, if you have an $800,000 home, maybe you should get it on the market.


Data aquired and analyzed from Midwest Real Estate Data LLC in which I am a paying member of (our local MLS).

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks- good update. The corner "mansion" on Hermitage/Wilson you show in the lower photo, no longer has a for sale sign on it. Are you imlpying it's one of the ones that is under contract? I thought it was taken off the market. Thanks!

Eric Rojas said...

Thanks for the comments. I used a photo of the "mansion" only because I took it recently driving by and it's in Ravenswood. Sorry, I got lazy and did not put captions with the photos.

I'll update you on the off-market date and last asking price of the home a little later (over $3M). The home was listed by Marlene Granaki of ReMax (she sold the home to the current owners barely a few years ago). The current owners did quite a bit of work so it's a shame they would need to sell so soon.

Victoria said...

Yes, you probably should have checked. But I will correct you: that unit in Fountain View is actually above the entrance onto the plaza (and not a corner unit). I think those have all sold now, but one of the #04 units may be still available (with a view of Gene's Sausage Shop!).

The first time I read this post it sounded like the bottom units in Fountain View were distressed, but then I figured out that you meant the bottom of the LIST. For anyone else who was confused: the bottom floor of Fountain View is for retail.

Eric Rojas said...

Edits were made early yesterday to clarify, thanks for correcting me and telling me what I should do. My "guess" just didn't cut it. We can all sleep soundly now.

Victoria said...

ZZZZZZZZ...ZZZZZZZ...ZZZZZZ....

Eric Rojas said...

Ha!

Anonymous said...

I saw the "mansion" was relisted- for those with some extra $$ here is the link with details- if the original price really was over $3M- then it's been drastically reduced. What a bargain! :)

Eric Rojas said...

Thanks for the comment... however you did not provide the link.

Here's one with some sales history if you sign up (disclaimer: not my web site).
http://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/4605-N-Hermitage-Ave-60640/home/13392546

Actually, I was mistaken on my $3M comment for this house.... the "mansion" shown in the post is at 4605 N Hermitage and was listed last year for $2,489,000 (not over $3M). It just came back on the market for $2,250,000 with a new listing agent.... whaa, whaaaa.

There is another home temporarily off the market nearby at 4420 N Paulina and was last listed at $3,188,000.

Anonymous said...

Oops- sorry- not sure you still need it- or why the link didn't come through- but will try again- http://www.trulia.com/property/45941239-4607-N-Hermitage-Ave-Chicago-IL-60640

Cheers!