Look at 2-4 Units in Whole MLS of Chicagoland - It’s Been a Good 5+ Year Run

For 5+ years we have gone up up up…. The charts show the value of Multi-Family housing in the Chicagoland area has risen over time consistently. Now that we have hit a “top” point with a slight adjustment down in May in the city of Chicago’s product what is next?

2012 onward has shown a consistent increase in prices of 2-4 flats in Chicagoland. This is of the whole mls—all suburbs and the city. Now below look at how low the inventory still is.

I always say “wow” when I see this chart. Just think how few homes there are compared to over time. Tuff time to be a buyer - slim pickings. This is what is propping prices up for now… or has been until now.

This chart is similar in that market time has dropped as the number of properties on market has dropped. Buyer’s get out, look and make quick decisions. That is the story and what you happening inside the graph.

Here’s one last graph. We can see in the backend of the mls how many showings between Realtors are created/conducted etc… and we know the timing. So I can look up the average number of “showings to contract” or showings per listing (above). The story in this graph is similar to the last one in that the # of buyers hunting each home are up at 18 per listing now and just 5 years ago were as low as 8. The buyer traffic has doubled, because the # homes for sale has more than been cut in half. Now March saw the first drop off in showings on a national level. Builders reported fewer “walk throughs’ on their sales centers. And, loan originations (people getting pre-approved for either refi or purchase) have dropped in March and April. This all predicts a drop off in showings per listing for the summer… likely by 10% or so (down to around 15). As soon as the # of properties for sale goes up you will see this number drop.

Let’s Zero in on one market. A quick look at an actual market area.

This is Pilsen’s Market in April

You can see the inventory of Homes and Condos has dropped down even off last year. You can also see the average sale price for the month of April dropped for both homes and condos. This is a flashing light of adjustments in price to come.