Chicago Ranks First In Nation For Home Price Growth

Chicago is king of home price growth, reflecting its resilience at a time when high interest rates are pushing down sales and prices across much of the nation–but there is a caveat.

Chicago led the nation with a 5 percent spike in home prices year-over-year in August, Crain’s reported, citing data from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices.

Despite this short-term success, the long-term perspective reveals a relative weakness in Chicago’s housing market. The August index showed Chicago home values at 197.32 compared to the January 2000 baseline of 100. In other words, Chicago-area prices have nearly doubled since the beginning of the 21st century, whereas home prices nationwide have more than tripled, with an index of 311 in August, the outlet reported.

August nevertheless marked the biggest jump for Chicago since December 2022, when home prices rose 5.9 percent from a year prior. The Windy City has now led the nation in home appreciation for three straight months, after registering gains of 4.2 percent in June and 4.6 percent in May, according to the Case-Shiller Indices.

The city’s strong performance contrasts with its history of trailing in the rankings. Between September 2016 and September 2021, Chicago consistently lagged behind, often ranking last or second to last among the 20 major cities tracked by the indices.

Chicago’s improved position can be largely attributed to other housing markets cooling off, as many cities experienced an unprecedented surge in home prices during the post-pandemic housing boom In contrast, Chicago withstood the volatile market shifts in the initial years of the pandemic, and now, its relatively stable growth is keeping it ahead of the curve.

New York was nipping at its heels with a 4.8 percent year-over-year gain in August. Nationwide, home prices were up 2.6 percent, or roughly half the increase of Chicago.

—Quinn Donoghue