May/June 2002

The State of the Real Estate Market

BY PAULA ARNETT

The accompanying chart* shows more activity in the first quarter of 2002 compared to 2001 in the Sheffield neighborhood. While more property came on the market in 2002, it was due to more condos being for sale, rather than single family and multi-unit buildings.

A 22% increase in property going under contract occurred, but a decrease in the number of multi-unit buildings. For closed property, there was an increase of 48%, but again a decrease in the number of multi-unit buildings. This decrease is due to many multi-units being converted to single-family homes. This increase can be attributed to the slow real estate market in the fall of 2001, due to the September tragedy.

Interesting FYI’s

Highest price paid to date for a Tear Down was in the 2200 block of Fremont for $1,575,000 in January 2001 (34’x124’ lot). Most current Tear Down is in the 2100 block of Clifton that closed at $740,000 in February 2002 (25’x125’ lot). Other recent Tear Downs are: 2200 block of Janssen with no public record of a sale (25’x128’ lot); and 2300 block of Wayne, $540,000 in February of 2001 (24’x124’ lot).

Two buildings that have been on and off the market since 1998 in the 2100 block of Magnolia are under contract as of March 2002 with current list prices of $995,000 for the corner building, and $750,000 for the building to the north, the former German Hungarian Bakery. In addition to the 2 vacant lots (45’x125’) across the alley on Lakewood are also under contract, with a list price of $1,300,000.

*Data compiled from Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois