Sales for ultra-luxury homes in Chicago were down in the first quarter.

The sales of ultra-luxury homes in Chicago were down in the first quarter, according to Chicago Metro Area Real Estate. Only five homes in the three million  dollars or more category were sold in Q1, which is down from the 29 units sold in 2008.

This slump was in contrast to all luxury home sales in Chicago,  which experienced overall growth of 29.7 percent. Other notable statistics are:

• 130 ultra-luxury homes were for sale in the first quarter, versus 145 the previous year
• Chicago ultra-luxury homes for sale dropped by 10.3 percent
• The number of all Chicago luxury homes for sale dropped by 23 percent
• Pending Chicago ultra-luxury sales rose by 33.3 percent,
• Days on the market for Chicago ultra-luxury homes increased by 79.8 percent.

National Luxury Sales: 

But according to Redfin, the national outlook for luxury ($1 million or more) real estate in 2013 Q1 has been very good, reaching a six-year high, increasing by 34 percent, with the market as a whole rising only five percent. According to Redfin, 249 luxury homes in the $1 million range have been sold in Chicago in the first quarter, and, according to Chicago Metro Area Real Estate, 33 ultra-luxury homes in the three million dollar range have already been sold or are pending sale in Chicago so far in the second quarter.

Sales time for ultra-luxury homes is typically much longer than the average days for all Chicago real estate because of the small market. In the first quarter, the average time on the market for an ultra-luxury home was 547 days, and for all Chicago homes, it was 119 days.