With or without Rosie, home sales in Lakeview have been pretty good in 2011.

Rosie O’Donnell’s purchase of a $2.5 million, 6,000 square-foot Lakeview property has made the Chicago neighborhood a consistent feature in many recent news stories, but thankfully, the area has even better news to report – homes sales in the third quarter were up more than 30 percent.

Sales rose from 28 sales in 2010’s third quarter to 38 this year, a 35.7 percent increase. There was also a significant improvement in the amount of time that it took for the homes to go under contract. That time period fell by 19 percent, from 136 days to 110 days.

Throughout 2011, Lakeview has been one of the bright spots for Chicago real estate, as the City of Big Shoulders has grappled with falling home values and rising foreclosures. In the first quarter of this year, for instance, Lakeview’s median sale price was up 21.6 percent from 2010 to $1,070,000.