Chicago Home Prices Continue Upward Trend

Chicago home prices continue to climb. According to recently released figures, single-family home values in the Chicago area rose more than 12-percent in January of this year compared to a year earlier.

That makes the ninth straight month of double-digit increases in home prices and the longest string in about 30 years. The data from Case-Shiller goes back to the late 1980s, and since that time there’s never been this long of a string of double-digit price increases.

Even in late 2013 and early 2014, prices only rose by the double digits for seven consecutive months. During the housing boom of the early 2000s, prices hovered around a nine percent increase for 13 months. Only once during that time did it top 10-percent.  

The news, of course, is good news for homeowners. It’s a bit mixed for buyers. While home prices are increasing in Chicago, it’s certainly not at the rate some other cities are seeing.

When you take the data nationwide, home prices were up more than 19-percent in January. That makes one of the largest monthly increases ever tracked by data.

Some cities saw double the increase that Chicago saw during the same time period. Prices were up the most in Phoenix, followed by Tampa, Miami, Dallas, San Diego, and Las Vegas.  

When just looking at 20 of the nation’s major cities, Chicago came in 18th. It remains to be seen what the future holds. With inflation on the rise, interest rates are also going up.