In today’s real estate market, everyone wants to know if we have hit the bottom of the declining market. The only way to really know the answer to that question is to see property values start to level off and even appreciate some.
The national media would have you believing that property values in Chicago have declined 10% from last year to this year. The national media does not take into account many, many factors that are extremely important: neighborhood, school district, home type, etc. Most people want to know if their particular property has declined. The answer to that is not that simple. In order to calculate the value of a home in a declining market one has to be careful to compare apples to apples. Meaning, you have to compare a 2-bedroom condo to another 2-bedroom condo in the same area. You cannot compare a single family residence to a condo. You also cannot compare a similar condos in two different neighborhoods.
Solid Statistics On Home Values In Some Neighborhoods in Chicago
Here are a few statistics that I have generated recently through my market research for my clients and may help some in the Chicagoland area:
- Studio condominium units in East Lakeview have declined approximately 28% from ’08 to ’09
- 3-bedroom/2+ bath duplex down units in East Lakeview have not declined from last year to this year. In fact there has been a slight appreciation factor. Only half the amount of duplexes have sold, but they have not declined in price.
- Single family residences in Lincoln Park, on average, have declined 4% from ’08 to ’09
- Single family residences in Southport Corridor 3-bedrooms, 3-bathrooms, with a master suite and garage parking, have declined approximately 5.17% from 2008 to 2009.
- 2-bedroom/2-bath units with a parking space in the Southport Corridor have not declined. They have held their value for the last three years running.
Stay tuned…as I do more declining market analysises, I will post the results.
We would like to thank Payton Chung for so generously sharing today’s photo via the Creative Commons License.

May 19, 2009 at 10:43 am
Katie,
Great article. I live in a 3 bedroom/2 bath vintage rehab in East Lakeview. We bought in 2007. We just had the place appraised. Our value declined $2,000 over the last two years from our purchase price. This is less than 1 percent. Just thought I would give you another statistic!
Jennifer
May 19, 2009 at 8:39 pm
How about three bedroom, two bath, duplex-up condos in Old Town/East Lincoln Park? Do you have any numbers for that one?
June 14, 2009 at 10:41 am
Another great post Katie.
Yeah, what I’ve noticed, too, is that condos have really taken a beating-I had one client on the Gold Coast who had a condo worth somewhere around $300 – $400k at it’s peak, and now it’s barely over $200. And you are right about the neighborhoods. What I’ve noticed is that the “nicer” neighborhoods have declined, but not nearly as much as neighborhoods that are a little rougher. I’ve seen some properties on the south side and west side dive over 50%. I had a guy call me about a loan mod who owes over $200k, but we’d be lucky to get an appraisal at $100k. So when the media reports “averages” the numbers are a bit skewed.