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 stayed the same at 42 days. Median prices went up 7% this year after significant rises in 3 of the last 4 years. The number of North Shore single family home sales went up 4% 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 4 years.
Here are the first half statistics.
| Number of Homes Sales | Average Market Time | |||||||
| 1/2 yr-24 | 1/2 yr-25 | 1/2 yr-24 | 1/2 yr-25 | |||||
| Wilmette | 144 | 149 | 32 | 25 | ||||
| Evanston | 152 | 152 | 48 | 48 | ||||
| Winnetka | 72 | 72 | 40 | 40 | ||||
| Glenview | 196 | 176 | 35 | 40 | ||||
| North Shore | 1620 | 1684 | 42 | 42 | ||||
| Average Home Price (in thousands) | Median Home Price (in thousands) | |||||||
| 1/2 yr-24 | 1/2 yr-25 | % Change | 1/2 yr-24 | 1/2 yr-25 | % Change | |||
| Wilmette | 1274 | 1437 | 13% | 1120 | 1300 | 16% | ||
| Evanston | 818 | 971 | 19% | 698 | 853 | 22% | ||
| Winnetka | 1974 | 2410 | 22% | 1705 | 2017 | 18% | ||
| Glenview | 984 | 1032 | 5% | 865 | 884 | 2% | ||
| North Shore | 1001 | 1114 | 11% | 795 | 851 | 7% | ||
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 large 11% increase for the North Shore. This year we had a significant 7% increase, but it did vary among the suburbs with Glenview’s median rising 2% and Evanston’s rising 22%. 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.
Inventory: Last year inventory had dropped for 5 years in a row and we saw record low inventory at that time. This year it has slightly increased. Inventory is up about 2% from last year, but is still only about 25% of a typical inventory. Wilmette currently has 48 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. The North Shore as a whole has 682 such homes on the market and in a typical year that number would be between 2500 and 3000.
Interest Rates: A 30-year conforming fixed rate loan is about 6.75% currently. 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 3 years.
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