The number of listed Chicago homes for sale for $1M or higher in the 1st quarter was down 23.7% from 1st quarter 2012.* There were 928 Chicago luxury homes for sale compared with 1,217 a year earlier. The percent of distressed sales (short sales and foreclosures) dropped from 2.9% of the inventory to 1.6%.
In February I wrote about how the number of Chicago luxury homes for sale in the 4th quarter of 2012 dropped 18.9%. The first quarter percentage drop in inventory was the largest since third quarter 2011 when it dropped 24.2%.
The number of Chicago luxury homes sold in the 1st quarter was up 29.7% from a year earlier. There were 131 sales. Pending sales were up 43.4%, so sales should do well this quarter.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR CHICAGO LUXURY HOME BUYERS
Lower inventory, rising sales and rising pending sales signal that the buyers market is over. If you will be financing your purchase, get your mortgage pre-approval before you start touring homes. If you’re paying cash, get a proof of funds letter ready to go.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR CHICAGO LUXURY HOME SELLERS
With a lower inventory of homes for sale you have less competition than during the past few years. If your home is priced right (i.e. competitively) when it goes on market, it will sell in a reasonable amount of time. Expectations should be tempered since the average days on market in the first quarter was up 15.1%. Luxury homes do take longer to sell on average than lower priced homes since there is a smaller market for them. The average days on market in the first quarter for all Chicago homes was 120 days. For luxury homes it was 237 days. If you’re considering selling your home, get our free home valuation.
CHICAGO LUXURY HOMES FOR SALE
Click below to see Chicago luxury homes for sale by price range.
| $5M & Above | $3M to $5M | $2M to $3M | $1.8M to $2M |
| $1.6M to $1.8M | $1.4M to $1.6M | $1.2M to $1.4M | $1M to $1.2M |
QUESTIONS?
Call Fran at 773-793-4516, text or email
*Information is based on data from Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED).
Fran Bailey specializes in downtown Chicago, Lincoln Park and Lake View condos, co-op apartments and houses. She has shared home buying and selling advice since 2006 and written about over 130 Chicago high rises. To schedule showings for any listings, get a 
