Analytics built by: Location, Inc.
Raw data sources: American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Methodology: NeighborhoodScout uses over 600 characteristics to build a neighborhood profile… Read more about Scout's Real Estate Data
With 2,665,039 people, 1,129,908 houses or apartments, and a median cost of homes of $379,440, Chicago real estate prices are well above average cost compared to national prices.
Large apartment complexes or high rise apartments are the single most common housing type in Chicago, accounting for 41.96% of the city's housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent in Chicago include duplexes, homes converted to apartments or other small apartment buildings ( 28.31%), single-family detached homes ( 25.89%), and a few row houses and other attached homes ( 3.54%). This particular housing mix is relatively uncommon and characteristic of cities that are compact and walkable, and which often have a lively downtown.
People in Chicago primarily live in small (one, two or no bedroom) units, chiefly found in large apartment complexes or high rise apartments. Chicago has a mixture of owner-occupied and renter-occupied housing.
The housing in Chicago was primarily built before 1939 ( 39.68%), making the housing stock in Chicago some of the oldest overall in America, although there is a range of ages of homes in Chicago. The next most important housing age is between 1940-1969 ( 29.82%), followed by between 1970-1999 ( 17.68%). There's also some housing in Chicago built between 2000 and later ( 12.82%).
Vacant housing appears to be an issue in Chicago. Fully 10.23% of the housing stock is classified as vacant. Left unchecked, vacant Chicago homes and apartments can be a drag on the real estate market, holding Chicago real estate prices below levels they could achieve if vacant housing was absorbed into the market and became occupied. Housing vacancy rates are a useful measure to consider, along with other things, if you are a home buyer or a real estate investor.
Chicago's appreciation rate notably has been below the national average for the last ten years. The average annual home appreciation rate in Chicago during the period has been just 5.69%, which is lower than 70% of US communities.
NeighborhoodScout's data show that during the latest twelve months, Chicago's appreciation rate, at 5.97%, has been at or slightly above the national average. In the latest quarter, Chicago's appreciation rate has been 2.79%, which annualizes to a rate of 11.63%.
Relative to Illinois, our data show that Chicago's latest annual appreciation rate is lower than 70% of the other cities and towns in Illinois.
One very important thing to keep in mind is that these are average appreciation rates for the city. Individual neighborhoods within Chicago differ in their investment potential, sometimes by a great deal. Fortunately, you can use NeighborhoodScout to pinpoint the exact neighborhoods in Chicago - or in any city or town - that have the best track record of real estate appreciation, by the latest quarter, the last year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even since 2000, to assist you in making the best Chicago real estate investment or home purchase decisions.
$379,440
for Illinois
for nation
1,129,908
$2,150 / per month