North Shore Market Report – First Half of 2017

The real estate market in 2017 has been strong.  Prices of North Shore single family homes are up 2% for the first half of 2016, and the number of home closings is up 9%.  Market time has increased by 3 days and inventory has been steady.

Here are the first half statistics. 

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:  The North Shore as a whole saw modest price appreciation in 2017 with the average and median up 2%.  However, that varied by location and price range with some areas seeing solid increases and others price declines.  In general, lower price ranges have fared better.  In regard to the locations in my report, Evanston and Glenview saw price appreciation while Wilmette and Winnetka saw declines.  Locations near town centers have fared better than those further away.

Inventory:  Wilmette currently has 166 active homes on the market that are not under contract.  That is about 5 months of inventory at the current pace of sales.  This is down from 192 homes that were on last year at this time. Evanston inventory has been tight and steady.  Its 137 active homes is just 3.6 months of inventory.  Evanston’s low inventory has helped its prices appreciate.  Winnetka has 172 active homes which is 7.3 months of inventory and Glenview has 296 homes which is 5.8 months.  The North Shore as a whole has 2648 active homes that are not under contract which is 6.7 months and that is a small drop from 2016.

Interest Rates:  Interest rates were near all time lows at this time last year.  They rose in late 2016, but then came down a little subsequently.  Currently a 30 year fixed is about 4% and a 15 year is about 3.5%.