Property taxes are always an important consideration when it comes to a decision to buy a home and with the recent tax hike in Chicago, owners and buyers still don't know what the full result will be.
But Crain's recently put together a feature detailing which three neighborhoods will see their tax bills rise the highest. Not surprisingly, they're neighborhoods that have seen the most dramatic price increases in the last few years.
The highest increases will be seen in the area centered around Division and Halsted, known as "North 013" to the assessor - assessments there (driven by prices) have increased 48.4 percent. Other top-appreciating neighborhoods in the city include East Village (33.1 percent), River North/Streeterville (33 percent) and the Near North Side at 32.8 percent.
For more, head over to Crain's here.
What kinds of housing attracted buyers in 2015? Chicago Agent Magazine dug into the data and came up with six facts that defined home purchases nationwide this year.
• Single-family homes: 83 percent of buyers purchased single-family homes.
• We didn't buy new homes: only 16 percent of buyers opted to purchase newly-built homes. That number hasn't changed since 2011.
• People still love the 'burbs: 52 percent of all home sales took place in the suburbs, 20 percent in small towns, 14 percent in urban areas and 13 percent in rural areas.
• Location: 59 percent of buyers cited the quality of the neighborhood as the reason they purchased a property.
• Magic number: the most popular home price bracket was $200,000 to $249,000, with 15 percent of total sales. 10 percent of sales were for $500,000 and more.
• Bigger is better: the median square footage of houses rose in 2015, to 1,900 from 1,870. 60 percent of all buyers purchased homes of at least 2,000 square feet.
Read more at Chicago Agent Magazine here.
While the news out this week was the housing sales for the Chicagoland area were down, that simple fact glosses over the bigger picture: the market is returning to normal after years of irregular patterns.
Sales in October dropped 2.0 percent year-over-year from 9,344 to 9,155 but the market was still positive by year-to-date measures, 7.4 percent above 2014. Distressed housing sales as a portion of the market also continue to decline: they're now back to 2009 levels.
In Chicago specifically, low total inventory, related at least partially to the tradition seasonability of the marketplace, had a big impact. Sales in the city were down .9 percent year-over-year to 2,109 but median prices were up 1.7 percent to $240,000.
Read more at Chicago Agent Magazine here.
Would you move to River South? Or Riverline? Developers behind a massive riverfront project south of the Loop are hoping you will as their proposal moves through the city planning process.
The project would be built on a little over six and a half acres of riverfront property that has functioned as a de facto park since the demolition of Grand Central Station in 1969.
Developer CMK Comapnies is planning a total of 2,699 resident units for the project and 16,500 square feet of ground floor retail. The tallest building would be 47 stories or 598 feet.
The project was given the green light by the Chicago Plan Commission last week and would include five high-rise buildings arranged around a park with public river access.
The project will now move to the full city council for approval. The developers hope to begin construction after the first of the year.
Read more here.