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Modern Home Statistics for May, 2020

Introduction

I listed 15 Barrington Hills Road in Barrington Hills, designed by Architect Francis E. “Red” Warner, in May

Hello, and thanks for reading. You may have noticed there was no newsletter last month. That’s because the market was dreadfully slow in April so I decided to wait until now, and I’m going to focus primarily on May here, because the month of May actually picked up considerably. In fact, by the end of May, we began to surpass last year’s showing activity. If you’re thinking of buying or selling a modern home soon, PLEASE contact me so I can talk through how the processes are different during the coronavirus pandemic.

As a reminder, these statistics cover all the modern homes that I’ve been tracking, and are not necessarily listed or sold by me. Data is from our MLS (Multiple Listing Service) system, which is called MRED, as well as from various county information sources.

May 2020 New Listings

In April, I recorded only 14 new modern home listings, which is really low. As of this writing, there are currently 133 modern homes listed in the Chicagoland area in the areas I track. May saw an increase in the number of modern homes that came to market, with 30 new listings in those areas, spread out over 20 different towns.

As always, I like to mention that some of the “new listings” in any given month may have actually been on the market before. There’s not a good way to cross-reference that in our MLS, unfortunately.

Price Range

Prices range from $250,000 for a 1,400 square foot ranch in Arlington Heights, to $7,750,000 for a 10,147 square foot modern 2-story home in Highland Park that I’ve discussed before (it’s been listed, canceled and re-listed numerous times).

Size range

Sizes of homes range from 1,307 square feet in Lake Zurich listed at $489,900, to the 10,147 square foot home in Highland Park mentioned above.

Distressed Properties

As far as I know, none of the modern homes that came to market in May was a distressed property (foreclosure or short sale).

May 2020 Closed Properties

In May, 15 modern homes closed in the areas I track, spread across 11 towns. Remember that closings are typically at least a month behind new listings.

Price Range

Prices ranged from $246,000 for a 1,212 square foot ranch in Arlington Heights to $1,165,000 for a new build 4,640 square foot 2-story home in Deerfield.

Size Range

Sizes of homes ranged from 1,212 square feet in Arlington Heights (mentioned above) to a 6,700 square foot house that sold for $650,000 in Highland Park.

Market Time

Market time for the homes sold in January ranged from 4 days, for a 2,600 square foot home in Grayslake that sold for $329,900, to 760 days for the Deerfield home mentioned previously that sold for $1,165,000. That home, 785 Elysian Way, will show a market time of 150 days in the MLS, because that’s how long it was on in the last version of the listing.

Regarding market time, it’s important to note that listings often get “canceled” and relisted, meaning the listing is canceled on our MLS even if the listing agreement between the seller and their agent is still in effect. The home is then re-listed on the MLS, often at a new price, but sometimes at the same price, just so that the home shows up as a “NEW” listing. This can cause serious inaccuracies in both sale price to listing price ratios, as well as market time, because the original listing, price and market time won’t be factored in if they were under a different listing number.

Distressed Properties

A home that sold in Riverwoods in May was a distressed property (a short sale).

For More Detailed Information

If you’d like more specific information about the market where you live, I’d be happy to set up a meeting with you to come visit your home, even if you’re not thinking of selling soon. I’ll have you give me a tour of your house, we’ll talk about its features and quirks and then I can prepare a market report that will show you data specific to your property. The market report will give you a good idea of what you could realistically expect to sell your home for at that time. When you are ready to sell, I’ll create another, updated market report then that reflects current data at the time it’s prepared. There’s no cost or obligation for any of this, although I certainly would love to work with you when you’re ready to sell. Appointments are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis as my schedule permits.

Disclaimer

I always make an effort to provide information in these updates that’s as accurate as possible, however, I don’t track every town in the Chicago suburbs. If you’re curious about the market for modern homes specifically in your area, please let me know and if I’m not already tracking that area, I’ll start! Note that data provided is from various sources and I cannot control the accuracy or completeness of that data. Homes discussed in these updates are listed and sold by various brokerages and real estate agents and do not necessarily represent my personal listings or sales as a Realtor.