The median sale price of listed downtown Chicago condos sold in the 4th quarter of 2012 was up 25% compared to a year earlier.* The median sale price was $355,000 compared to $283,500 in the 4th quarter of 2011.
In the 2nd quarter the median sale price of downtown Chicago condos was up 4.2%. In the 3rd quarter it was up 8.4%. So we’ve had 3 quarters of year over year improvement.
The number of units sold was up 40%. The inventory of downtown Chicago condos for sale in the 4th quarter was down 31%. The average days on market was down 18%. Pending sales were up 40%, so sales should do well this quarter.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR DOWNTOWN CHICAGO CONDO BUYERS
With a significantly lower inventory of downtown Chicago condos for sale you don’t have nearly the choices that you had a year ago. You won’t be able to negotiate as much since there aren’t as many sellers competing against each other. For more on the 25% median sale price increase see the next section.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR DOWNTOWN CHICAGO CONDO SELLERS
Before you get too excited about the 25% higher median sale price you should know that the increase in median sale price was partially due to the fact that there were less bank-owned sales in the 4th quarter. When you look at bank-owned and non-bank-owned sales separately, their median sale prices were both up 14%. That’s still an increase, but nowhere close to 25%. Given that the downtown Chicago condo market appears to be forming a bottom, I don’t recommend selling unless: 1. you really need to or 2. you want to move up to a more expensive home. It’s probably come down more in value in the past few years than your current home. As always, if your condo is priced right when it goes on market, it will sell in a reasonable amount of time.
DOWNTOWN CHICAGO CONDOS FOR SALE
Click below to see the downtown Chicago condos for sale in your desired price range.
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*Statistics include co-ops, lofts, apartments and townhouses. 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 
