The market for multimillion-dollar homes in the Chicago area has already outperformed last year’s tally.
Through the end of August, 51 houses and condos sold for at least $4 million in metro Chicago. That’s more than all of 2016 or 2017, and equalling the all-time high for a full year in 2015, according to Crain’s.
Experts attributed the surge in luxury sales to a strong economy that has the rich more willing to spend.
The hottest areas for high-priced homes are the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park and North Shore suburbs. JDL Development’s No. 9 Walton at 9 West Walton Street in the Gold Coast recorded 13 sales of $4 million or more by the end of August, including this year’s top price of $12.1 million, while three properties sold for at least $10 million-plus in Winnetka. A Lincoln Park mansion, meanwhile, sold for $11.9 million.
Four properties in Chicago and the suburbs went for $12 million or more, tying 2016, the market’s all-time best year for $12 million-and-up sales.
The picture isn’t as rosy for the overall market, though: Sales of homes at all prices in the nine-county Chicago metro area through July fell 2 percent year over year, according to figures released by Illinois Realtors.
And even the luxury market is not without its challenges: 15 properties listed at $4 million-plus have lingered on the market as long as four years, according to Crain’s, and many high-price properties that have sold had seen price slashes. [Crain’s] — John O’Brien