SmartAsset completed a study to find the healthiest housing markets, or the easiest cities to sell a home, within the state of Illinois by evaluating stability, affordability, fluidity and risk of loss.
The company said they considered the number of years people remained in their homes and the percentage of homeowners with negative equity, when measuring stability. SmartAsset evaluated the percentage of homes that decreased in value when determining risk. To account for market fluidity, they looked at the average time a for-sale home in each location spends on the market, finding that the longer it took for homes to sell the less fluid the market. SmartAsset concluded their research by calculating a percentage of household income in each county and city as the monthly cost of owning a home when determining affordability.
| Rank | City | Avg. Homes with Negative Equity | Homes Decreasing in Value | Avg. Days on Market | Home Cost as % of Income | Ease of Sale Index |
| 1 | Cicero, IL | 20.6% | 10.6% | 15.3 | 27.50% | 97.58 |
| 2 | North Chicago, IL | 0.0% | 12.0% | 18.6 | 23.60% | 96.92 |
| 3 | Melrose Park, IL | 22.5% | 38.6% | 31.3 | 25.80% | 94.35 |
| 4 | Carol Stream, IL | 11.5% | 10.1% | 31.4 | 22.50% | 94.33 |
| 5 | Joliet, IL | 16.7% | 7.2% | 32.4 | 23.40% | 94.13 |
| 6 | Blue Island, IL | 33.9% | 34.2% | 35 | 24.20% | 93.60 |
| 7 | Romeoville, IL | 13.9% | 4.1% | 35.2 | 24.30% | 93.57 |
| 8 | Wheeling, IL | 17.5% | 26.7% | 35.2 | 24.40% | 93.57 |
| 9 | Forest Park, IL | 28.4% | 23.8% | 35.4 | 24.60% | 93.52 |
| 10 | Waukegan, IL | 26.3% | 19.6% | 36 | 23.30% | 93.40 |
Healthy is an ambiguous term used here, North Chicago has 0% of homes with negative equity? Doubtful. These “standards” are skewed. I could poke holes in this logic all day long.