Headlines proclaimed last month that Andersonville was going to be the hottest neighborhood in Chicago in 2015 - but how did Redfin - the website that made the prediction - make that determination?
Several real estate websites, realtor.com, redfin.com and zillow.com make predictions based on past sales activity and multiple additional metrics, but while the top neighborhood grabs headlines, delving into the numbers can reveal a lot of additional information about other neighborhoods that might be better bets in the coming year.
• Among Zillow's top five: Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Bucktown/Logan Square and Avondale
• Realtor.com adds Streeterville to the city list and adds many suburban areas including Crown Point, In., Kildeer, Frankfort, New Lenox and St. Charles.
• And Redfin adds University Village/Little Italy and Albany Park.
Of course, making a choice about a place to live isn't just an investment, but a choice about what neighborhood appeals to your personality and life situation.
To read more on websites and their methodology though, head over to the Chicago Tribune here.