No Chicago mansions sold in Q1

In the first quarter there were no sales of listed mansions in Chicago.^* For the past 3 years there have been an average of 3 houses sold quarterly in Chicago with a minimum of 8,000 SF. One mansion sale was recorded in error. It was a bungalow with the wrong square footage.

The number of Chicago mansions for sale was down 35.3%. 33 such homes were for sale down from 51 a year earlier. The inventory of mansions for sale in the first quarter was a new low for the past 3 years.

Back in August I wrote about how inventory levels for Chicago mansions had been rising. In the second quarter of 2012 there were 52 mansions for sale. That changed in the 3rd quarter of 2012 when the number of listed Chicago mansions for sale dropped 13.3% from a year earlier. In the 4th quarter the drop was 23.1%. Above average sales in both of those quarters helped lower mansion inventory.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR CHICAGO MANSION BUYERS

Lower inventory signals that the buyers market is over. Given that sales were above average in the past 2 quarters and that 3 sales is average for a quarter, zero sales in the first quarter is not a sign of weakness in the market.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR CHICAGO MANSION SELLERS

With a lower inventory of mansions 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. Luxury homes do take longer to sell on average than lower priced homes since there is a smaller market for them. Mansions take even longer. The average days on market on a quarterly basis over the past 3 years for all Chicago homes was 147 days. For luxury homes it was 220 days. For mansions it averaged 262 days. If you’re considering selling your home, get our free home valuation.

CHICAGO MANSIONS FOR SALE

^*Information is based on data from Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED).