Where Chicago's housing market stands heading into 2024
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Chicago's low housing inventory pushed prices high this year, and that likely won't change in 2024.
Why it matters: The year's record-low housing affordability might not be drawing to an end.
Zoom in: Some shoppers are starting to accept that mortgage rates probably won't fall back to pandemic levels, Debbie Pawlowicz, owner of a West-suburbs brokerage, tells Axios.
The big picture: U.S. home sales have cratered as many owners clamp down on their lower mortgage rates.
- "If there's nothing out there for me to buy, why would I sell? We are all kind of stuck in that paradigm right now," chief economist Matthew Gardner at Windermere Real Estate said at a November conference.
Between the lines: The number of Chicago-area listings available to buy dropped from around 41,500 to roughly 25,500 between October 2019 and October 2023, according to the latest Redfin data.
Reality check: It's not all bad news. Chicago shoppers can find some deals this winter on high-rise condos and in outlying neighborhoods of the city.
What we're watching: Mortgage rates would need to slide significantly to loosen homeowners' golden handcuffs and boost listing activity, real estate experts say.
More on housing from Axios:
State of play: The income needed to afford a typical Chicagoland home was over $91,000 in August. That's nearly a 26% jump from a year ago, according to a recent Redfin report.
📦 Young professionals are still moving to Chicago, even as affordability draws Illinoisans to low-tax states like Florida and Texas.
🏡 Crisp white siding, natural wood and other hallmarks of the modern farmhouse have taken over Chicago's suburbs.
- About those suburbs: Home prices in some areas got just as pricey as the city, if not more.
⛈ More people are talking about disaster-proof dome homes as a solution to climate threats.
🏗 Chicago apartments are racing to add eye-popping amenities for a growing cohort of high-income renters.
- The intrigue: A new co-living building opened in Lincoln Park.
🏢 Chicago will be at the forefront of turning offices into apartments in the coming years, according to one report.