October Saw North Center Residential Market Continue Yielding Higher Median Sales Prices

CHICAGO - Rezul -- If median sales price is a reliable measure, North Center home values have risen steadily in 2019, and October was no exception. The median price of a detached North Center home sold last month was up 24.9% from the October of 2018, while for attached homes the median gained a more modest but still very healthy 9.1%.

Those higher values were achieved despite total sales that once again were slightly lower than the same month in 2018. Combined attached/detached sales in North Center during October were 41 units, down from 43 units a year earlier, and included 13 detached sales, compared to 19 last year, and 28 attached sales, up from 24 a year earlier.

"There's no question that buyers want to be in North Center, and the low mortgage interest rates we are currently enjoying allow them to spend somewhat more than they could a year ago," noted Mary Jo Nathan, a broker associate with the Charese Team at Compass in Roscoe Village. She has specialized in residential properties on Chicago's North Side for nearly two decades and did the analysis of North Center sales using data from MRED, the regional multiple listing service.

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The North Center area extends from Diversey Parkway north to Montrose Avenue and from Ravenswood Avenue west to the Chicago River, and it includes the neighborhoods of Roscoe Village and Northcenter/St. Ben's.

Activity in the North Center multi-unit market cooled off in October after a busy third quarter.  Just four multi-unit properties sold last month at a median price of $642,500, an increase of 2.8% over the prior October figure.

Single-family/detached home sales ranged in price from $575,000 for a three-bedroom vintage bungalow on Cullom Avenue west of Western Avenue to  $1,800,000 for a five-bedroom, 4½-bath home on a 37-foot lot near Pensacola and Hoyne avenues.

The top October condo sale in North Center was $1,200,000 for a four-bedroom, 3½-bath penthouse unit near Roscoe Street and Oakley Avenue, while at the other end of the spectrum, a two-bedroom, one-bath vintage condo near Patterson and Damen avenues sold for $150,000.

"While prices were strong and total sales activity held fairly steady, one potential sign of a changing market was the increased market times we saw in October," Nathan said.  "Compared to October 2019, average market time for detached homes essentially doubled from 60 to 112 days, while attached homes averaged 78 days, an increase of 24 days."