Single-Family Home Sales Rebound In North Center

CHICAGO — Home sales have surged in Chicago's North Center neighborhood, according to a recent report by The Wilcox Company. After a slow-paced first quarter, the neighborhood's housing market moved into a higher gear in April, as sales of single-family homes rebounded, the report shows.

Sales of single-family houses were up 10.5 percent in April compared to the same month last year. That compares to a 50 percent first-quarter decline in single-family sales, with only 28 homes selling during that three-month period. Moreover, the April single-family median price was up 18.2 percent to $1,300,000 from $1,100,000 a year earlier, and the average time that a detached home sold in April took to find a buyer was 82 days, down markedly from the 122 days required by homes sold in April 2018, according to the report.

In contrast, the market of attached homes, which are primarily condominium apartments in North Center, saw sales ease somewhat after a busy first quarter, the Wilcox report showed. April attached sales fell 16.3 percent to 41 units, and the median sales price was down 13.9 percent to $422,000. However, the decline may be only temporary in nature because demand appears to remain strong, with the average market time for attached homes dipping to a brisk 44 days in April from 56 days a year earlier.

The North Center area extends from Diversey Parkway north to Montrose Avenue and from Ravenswood Avenue west to the Chicago River, and it includes the neighborhoods of Roscoe Village and Northcenter/St. Ben’s.

“We weren’t really surprised to see the uptick in single-family activity,” said Mary Jo Nathan, a broker associate with The Wilcox Company who did the analysis of North Center sales using data from MRED, the regional multiple listing service. “The level of first-quarter sales seemed like an anomaly, and the April results show that the market is returning to something like its normal pace. I’m optimistic that the rebound will continue through the rest of the second quarter.”

April single-family sales in North Center ranged in price from $450,000 for a five-room frame cottage on Belmont Avenue to $2,175,000 for a six-bedroom, 4.2-bath home on a 37.5-foot lot near Hamilton and Cornelia avenues. Only six of 21 homes sold in April cost less than $1 million. Attached sales started at $134,000 for a one-bedroom, one-bath unit in Roscoe Village and topped out at $715,000 for a 2,500 square-foot, duplex condo near Addison and Damen avenues, according to the report.

There were six multi-unit sales in North Center during April, up from four a year earlier. Five were two-unit properties, while one had a small third unit, and they ranged in price from $400,000 to $600,000, the report showed.

For the entire city of Chicago, April home sales fell 3.8 percent, with single-family sales down by 10.2 to 894. Attached sales were unchanged compared to April 2018 at 1,675 units.