Real Estate in Chicagoland (Northern Illinois)

As the Spring selling season approaches and uncertainty continues over whether the home buyer tax credit will be extended past April by Congress, it is not surprising that more homes are coming on the market. However, the market seems to be firming a bit as the average asking price per home is up slightly.

The total amount of residential real estate listed in Chicagoland is $34.2 billion dollars (up 6% from February).  A total of 102,029 properties and lots are listed (up 5% versus February) with an average asking price of $335,000 (up 0.4%). 

Not surprisingly Chicago dominates the property listings for Chicagoland representing over 25% of the total properties listed and total value of the real estate on the market.  Naperville IL is the community with the second largest amount of real estate based upon a total ask value of $839 million (up 11% from February).  Lake Forest IL homes for sale are next with $640 million. Lake Forest and Naperville are the only communities besides Chicago with a total asked valuation in excess of $500 million.  Next three communities with high valuations of residential properties on the market are: St. Charles with a homes and lot valuation of $439 million, Highland Park IL with real estate for sale of $414 million, Hinsdale IL properties with a total asked price of $382 million. The north shore communities of Winnetka, Glenview, and Evanston all moved up in the rankings, whille Plainfield and Elgin fell by one to two spots. Winnetka IL listed real estate has a total valuation of $403 million, all of the Glenview IL homes are listed at a total of $397 million, Plainfield IL residential properties have a total asking price of $390 million, and all of the Evanston IL homes listed in the MLS total up to $385 million. Elgin IL properties  total up to $351 million. Among communities with over 500 properties on the market, Oak Park had the largest month over month increase, with a 21% increase in properties for sale (667 versus 549 in February) 

Real estate in Kenilworth IL has the highest average property value at $2.2 million per property listed.  There are a total of ten communities in Northern Illinois with an average asking price of $1 million or more.  Seven of these cities have over 100 properties listed for sale: Barrington Hills IL has an average home price ask of $1,993,000; Winnetka IL with an average property ask price of $1,725,000; Glencoe IL with an average home and lot ask of $1,619,000; Lake Forest IL with an average real estate property ask price of $1,505,000, Oak Brook IL with an average property ask price of $1,156,000; Hinsdale IL with an average home and lot ask of $1,096,000; and North Barrington IL properties.  The two communities that have less than 100 properties in the MLS but also have average values in excess of $1,000,000: Bannockburn IL, and South Barrington IL. 

Besides Chicago which has over 25,000 properties listed in the MLS, there are ten communities with over 800 properties listed for sale in the Chicagoland area.  These are: Aurora IL with 1885 properties, Naperville IL with 1678 homes, Elgin IL with 1475 properties, Plainfield IL with 1203 homes, Joliet IL with 1167 properties, Palatine IL with 1,032 homes for sale, Des Plaines IL with 981 homes, Evanston IL with 925 properties, Arlington Heights IL with 889 homes for sale and St. Charles has 845 homes listed for sale. 

Note:  This data was aggregated from real estate recorded in the Multiple Listing Services that serve the Illinois area.  Properties that do not show up in the MLS like “For Sale By Owner” homes will not be included in these numbers.  This data was collected at the beginning of February 2010, and the current numbers will be different as a result of listings being added or removed from the MLS since that time.  We can not guarantee the accuracy of the data presented in MLS records.  Click here to see the current number of homes for sale and the average asking price for each city in Chicagoland.