Last year at this time my market report showed an exceptionally strong real estate market. This year the market has again been exceptionally strong in the first half of the year. The average market time in the North Shore went from a record low of 42 days to a new record low of 38 days. Median prices went up 12% this year after significant rises in 4 of the last 5 years. The number of North Shore single family home sales went up 2% this year, but it is still substantially below a typical number of sales. This low number of sales continues to be a result of the record low inventory that we have had for the past 5 years.
Here are the first half statistics.
| Number of Homes Sales | Average Market Time | |||||||
| 1/2 yr-25 | 1/2 yr-26 | 1/2 yr-25 | 1/2 yr-26 | |||||
| Wilmette | 149 | 156 | 25 | 20 | ||||
| Evanston | 161 | 181 | 45 | 31 | ||||
| Winnetka | 83 | 94 | 71 | 30 | ||||
| Glenview | 176 | 198 | 40 | 36 | ||||
| North Shore | 1686 | 1717 | 42 | 38 | ||||
| Average Home Price (in thousands) | Median Home Price (in thousands) | |||||||
| 1/2 yr-25 | 1/2 yr-26 | % Change | 1/2 yr-25 | 1/2 yr-26 | % Change | |||
| Wilmette | 1437 | 1533 | 7% | 1300 | 1363 | 5% | ||
| Evanston | 971 | 955 | -2% | 853 | 850 | 0% | ||
| Winnetka | 2410 | 2350 | -2% | 2017 | 2000 | -1% | ||
| Glenview | 1032 | 1164 | 13% | 884 | 943 | 7% | ||
| North Shore | 1114 | 1210 | 9% | 851 | 950 | 12% | ||
The above statistics are for detached single-family homes and were compiled from data collected by the Multiple Listing Service (Midwest Real Estate Data LLC), and may not include all home sales.
Prices: Last year the median price rise was a significant 7% increase for the North Shore. This year we had a large 12% increase, but it did vary among the suburbs. In fact, the ones that I cover were all below the North Shore’s 12% increase. Poor Winnetka saw its median price drop to just 2 million and its average to 2.35 million (: . However, as I always point out, the sample size from one suburb in half a year is not enough to give a reliable number, so I look mostly at the entire North Shore. Indeed, Winnetka is doing just fine, it had a couple more sales at the very high-end last year pushing it’s average up 22% last year at this time, so it’s not surprising it went down a little this year. Overall, the North Shore market did very well in the first half of this year.
Inventory: For the past 3 years the entire North Shore single family home inventory has been around 700 homes which is well below the typical inventory of the past which had been around 2500 homes. So only about 30% of a normal inventory. This year, however, it has dropped to a new record low of 591 homes. This includes homes on the MLS’s public and private networks. Wilmette currently has 24 active detached single-family homes on the market that are not under contract. In a typical year, that number would be between 150 and 200. Moreover, inventory continues to be a problem for home buyers.
Interest Rates: A 30-year conforming fixed rate loan is about 6.5% currently. Last year at this time it was 6.75% and in 2024 and 2023 at this time the rate was around 7%. In 2022 the rate was 5.5% and in 2021 it was 3%. Moreover, after 2 years of increasing rates in 2021 and 2022, we have seen relatively stable rates for the past 4 years.
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