Although detached home prices are holding steady, condo and other attached home values are on the up and up in Chicago’s suburbs, according to new data from the Mainstreet Organizations of REALTORS®.
During June, the median sale price for attached homes was up 12.8% year over year, reaching $255,000. Meanwhile, detached homes prices increased just 1.8%.
The areas which saw the greatest growth in attached home sales price were, in order: Burnham (a 148% increase in median sales price), Oak Brook Terrace (131%), Riverside (117%), River Grove (82%), Wauconda (66.7%), Zion (57.6%), Lemont (53.4%); Westchester (44.7%) and Hainesville-Grayslake (41.7%).
And Mainstreet says one age group is driving the demand: Baby boomers.
“There are a lot of baby boomers looking for the ease of living and lack of maintenance that comes with an attached home right now,” Mainstreet President Debbie Pawlowicz said in a press release. “Unlike most millennial buyers, who might also be interested in attached homes, many of today’s boomer homebuyers are willing and able to pay more for an attached home, and many can pay in cash.”
That outlook is in line with statistics from the National Association of REALTORS® which reported that baby boomers overtook millennials as the largest generation of homebuyers in their most recent Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report. In the past year, Baby Boomers doubled their market share and now make up 39% of all homebuyers.
“As boomers continue to retire and age, I think we’re seeing a growing interest in downsizing and being nearer to family,” said Mainstreet CEO John Gormley. “The increase in attached housing prices indicates that, at this point in their lives, many boomers see condos and other attached dwellings as just as valuable as the single-family homes they’ve raised their kids in.”
Additionally, the housing supply for both attached and detached homes grew in Chicagoland during June. There were 13,237 new listings in the Chicagoland PMSA: the highest number of new listings from any month this year.
“Yes, inventory is finally on the rise again, but it’s still low, and the market continues to move quickly this summer,” Pawlowicz said. Currently, there are only 1.7 months of inventory in the Chicagoland PMSA. “That means buyers need to be ready with their pre-approvals and come in with a sincere, buttoned-up offer.”