Home Prices Rise In 1 Evanston ZIP Code, Shrink In 2 Others

EVANSTON, IL — All three ZIP codes in Evanston had a high environmental hazard risk index, and over the past year, the median home price in one of them grew more than 15 percent faster than the U.S. market overall, according to a new report from ATTOM Data Solutions. The report found that nationally, home prices in ZIP codes in the highest 20 percent for environmental hazard risk grew faster than the market overall.

Median home prices in ZIP codes with a very high environmental hazard risk index grew faster than the overall market over the past year (7.4 percent), the past five years (57.1 percent) and the past 10 years (22.2 percent), according to the report. In the market overall, median home prices appreciated 7.1 percent over the past year, 51.1 percent over the past five years and 12.3 percent over the past 10 years.

ATTOM Data analyzed over 8,000 ZIP codes that had sufficient housing trend data for risk related to four environmental hazards: superfund sites, brownfields, polluters and poor air quality. A risk index was calculated for each hazard and a combined index was then calculated based on the four factors. The highest environmental risk index for a ZIP code in the country was 497.

All three of Evanston's ZIP codes were rated in the top 40 percent for environmental hazards overall:

• 60201: Overall risk index: 68; median home prices fell by 2 percent over the past year.
• 60202: Overall risk index: 74; median home prices grew by 15 percent over the past year.
• 60203: Overall risk index: 68; median home prices fell by 6 percent over the past year.

Homes in ZIP codes with higher environmental hazard risk also had the lowest foreclosure rate, with the exception being ZIP codes that had the highest risk index for superfunds. The foreclosure rate for ZIP codes in the highest risk category for superfunds was more than 1.5 times that of the overall market rate.

Two of Evanston's ZIP codes had foreclosure rates below the national average of 0.4 percent. In 60203, the foreclosure rate was 0.23 percent. In 60201, it was 0.38 percent. The rate in 60202 was just slightly above the national average at 0.42 percent.

In the market overall, a total of 12.6 million single family homes and condos with a combined market value of $3.4 trillion were in ZIP codes in the top 20 percent for environmental hazard risk. The average market value of homes in these ZIP codes was $268,585 compared to an average market value of $329,217 in the market overall.

According to ATTOM, the top 10 ZIP codes for overall environmental hazard housing risk are:

• Denver (80216)
• San Bernardino, California (92408)
• Sheridan, Oregon (97378)
• Saint Louis (63133)
• Haw River, North Carolina (27258)
• Riverside, California (92501)
• Santa Fe, California (90670)
• Tulsa, Oklahoma (74108)
• Tulsa, Oklahoma (74119)
• Houston (77042)

See the full report from ATTOM here