Regional Spotlight—Luxury homes sold in greater number and more quickly during 2013 in the seven-county metropolitan Chicago real estate market even as the median sales price held steady, according to the RE/MAX Luxury Report on Chicago Real Estate, a bi-monthly analysis of home sales at $1 million plus. The metro area includes the counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.
Sales were brisk, with 2,038 luxury properties changing hands; 33 percent more luxury homes sold during the year than in 2012. The average time it took for those $1 million-plus homes sold in 2013 to find a buyer was 160 days, down from 223 days in the prior year. The median sales price held steady at $1,325,000.
Chicago Luxury Home Sales
In Chicago, total luxury sales were up 26 percent for the year to 900 units, and the median sales price climbed 0.4 percent to $1,370,000. The average market time shrank to 141 days, compared to 195 days in 2012.
Activity in the Chicago luxury market shifted somewhat in 2013, with detached homes accounting for 54 percent of sales while sales of attached homes represented 46 percent. In 2012, 51 percent of luxury sales were in the attached category; 49 percent involved detached residences.
Not only did detached homes attract the majority of sales activity, they also performed a bit better by other measures. Detached sales increased 39 percent to 485 units. The median price of a detached luxury home rose 1 percent to $1,350,500 compared to $1,335,000 in 2012. Average market time was 120 days last year, down from 167 days in 2012.
