Real Estate

Chicago home sales are slowing down

Data: RE/MAX; Note: Overall number includes 50 metro areas analyzed by RE/MAX; Table: Kavya Beheraj/Axios
Data: RE/MAX; Note: Overall number includes 50 metro areas analyzed by RE/MAX; Table: Kavya Beheraj/Axios

Home sales were down more than 28% year over year in the Chicago metro area, per RE/MAX's recent report on February data.

What's happening: In 2022, potential buyers were desperate for more inventory. Now, homes are hitting the market, but people can't afford them, Axios' Brianna Crane writes.

Rolling Meadows architectural gem listed for under $600K

Photo of a circular house

Don't tell Monica, but we're moving our headquarters here. Photo: Courtesy of Heather Owino, Keller Williams Success Realty

The Zillow listing's rounded architecture might be something you'd find in Palm Springs or Santa Fe, but far from the norm in Rolling Meadows.

By the numbers: For just under $600,000, you can own your own little version of Marina City.

New apartments in Chicago are smaller than national average

Data: RentCafe analysis of Yardi Matrix data; Note: Analysis includes U.S. metro areas (defined by Yardi Matrix market boundaries) with the most apartments located in multi-family buildings of 50 units or more; Map: Kavya Beheraj/Axios

It's not your imagination. Apartments are getting smaller.

Why it matters: New apartment layouts are shrinking nationally, a reversal in the rental market that saw units get bigger during the early part of the work-from-home era, reports Axios's Sami Sparber and Kavya Beheraj.

How Chicago homebuilders are luring buyers back

Data: Bankrate; Note: *Table shows hypothetical scenario for the first year of a 2/1 rate buydown where the mortgage rate is 5% in the first year, 6% in the second and reverts to 7% after; Table: Axios Visuals

More homebuilders are offering mortgage buydowns to bring potential buyers to the closing table, Axios' James Briggs reports.

What it is: A buydown is when a seller, a homebuilder or even a lender pays cash to lower the buyer's mortgage rate, typically by 1 to 3 percentage points, Axios' Emily Peck explains.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi pushes back against appeals

Photo of a man smiling.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi at his offices in 2021. Photo: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Some Chicago homeowners could see their future property tax bills shrink under a proposal to reassess hundreds of downtown commercial properties.

Why it matters: Many residents were shocked and outraged by the jump in their delayed 2021 bills, which Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi and the county's Board of Review pointed fingers over last fall.

Monica Eng
Feb 14, 2023 - Real Estate

For residents, Chicago's downtown is rated top-notch

Photo of a street with a big sign that says "Chicago"

Photo: Monica Eng/Axios

Chicago's downtown ranks among the nation's best for residential living.

  • The rating comes from a recent analysis by self-storage company StorageCafe.com, which looked at living options, safety and lifestyle amenities balanced by cost.

More people are moving out of Chicago

Data: NAR analysis of USPS data; Chart: Axios Visuals

People aren't moving to big city centers to big city centers like Chicago as they used to, even as employers ramp up calls to return to the office, reports Axios' Sami Sparber.

Why it matters: Affordability is still drawing folks to cheaper and less populous areas, particularly those in the booming Sun Belt.

Sami Sparber
Feb 6, 2023 - News

Chicago rents are still high, for now

Data: Moody's Analytics; Table: Kavya Beheraj/Axios

Rent is still getting pricier in Chicago, but renters are faring better here than in much of the U.S.

Driving the news: In the fourth quarter of 2022, the average asking rent in Chicago was $1,830, up 8.2% from a year earlier, per economic research firm Moody's Analytics.

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