Modern Home Statistics for February, 2021
Introduction
Hello, and thanks for reading. February was pretty brutal, weather-wise, but if last year was a good year for home sales in the Chicago suburbs, February started the transition to a great time to sell a home in the area. 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 and in the current market situation.
As a reminder, the statistics that follow 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.
February 2021 New Listings
As of this writing, there are currently 97 modern homes listed in the Chicagoland area in the areas I track, so the total number of modern home listings is up a bit from last month, however, compared with demand, it’s still very low. As with last month, of the homes on the market, only 41 of those 97 are not already under contract.
February saw a significant increase in the number of modern homes that came to market with 38 new modern homes coming to market, vs 22 in January. This is consistent with our typical selling cycles, despite the pandemic having disrupted those over the course of the last year.
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 of modern homes that came to market in February range from $139,900 for a 1,306 square foot split level in Flossmoor built in 1959, to $3,599,000 for a 16,066 square foot modern home in Bannockburn built in 2001.
Size range
Sizes of modern homes listed in February ranged from 1,136 square feet in for a ranch in Glen Ellyn built in 1958, to 16,066 square feet for the house mentioned above.
Distressed Properties
The split level house in Flossmoor was a foreclosure.
February 2021 Closed Properties
In February, only 11 modern homes closed in the areas I tracked (across 10 towns), down from 23 in January. I’m not really sure if this is attributable to longer closings or bad weather, but that’s a pretty big change, especially considering there was a bit more inventory than in the previous couple of months. Remember that closings are typically at least a month or two behind new listings.
Price Range
Prices ranged from $157,500 for the foreclosure in Flossmoor mentioned above, to $807,500 for a 4,514 square foot split level house in Winnetka built in 1962.
Size Range
Sizes of homes ranged from the 1,306 square foot house in Flossmoor mentioned previously to a 5,600 square foot home in Olympia Fields built in 1996 that sold for $343,000.
Market Time
Market time for the homes sold in February ranged from 6 days (a few homes in February sold after just 6 days on the market) to 239 days for the house in Winnetka mentioned above.
The average market time for homes that closed in February was 70 days, and the median was 54 days.
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. This is why I don’t typically discuss the ultimate sale price as a percentage of the list price, because it really is meaningless.
Distressed Properties
Just the home in Flossmoor mentioned previous was a distressed property (a foreclosure).
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.
