Chicago Magazine Article (Naperville, Lake Forest, Hinsdale: sales, real estate, assessor)

[Virginia7]

http://chicagomag.com/Radar/Deal-Est...the-Sales-Are/

I thought that the list posted today of "where the sales are" was pretty interesting and somewhat surprising, I'm curious to see what those of you who know these areas and know real estate better than I do think of it.

It won't let me post the chart in here but you can see it in the above link.

The only suburbs that it listed that saw an increase in sales in 2008 from 2007 are Itasca, Crestwood, Naperville, Western Springs, River Forest, Lincolnwood and Sugar Grove (In that order in terms of percent increase)

[Steve-o]

This news is common across the whole country right now (for the most part).

[Virginia7]

Yeah, I was interested in what you guys thought about the places that did see an increase and why you think that they saw an increase while other towns didn't

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Virginia7

Yeah, I was interested in what you guys thought about the places that did see an increase and why you think that they saw an increase while other towns didn't

Hard to say, really. I would have thought that places like Naperville would be one of the hardest hit areas. Boy was I wrong! I know neighborhoods like Hyde Park were booming, and its 113% gain wasnt news to me. I was surprised, though, to see that almost every single suburb saw a big slowdown in sales, especially with all the new ones I see being built. But, like I said before, this is commonplace across the country, sadly.

[cdc3217]

Crestwood gives a property tax rebate and has amped up its recreational offerings so that doesn't surprise me. Its kind of a working-class safe-haven.

[sgresident]

I can say that Sugar Grove is a nice town and with prices coming down a little, there are some good values. Commute times are decent to naperville and oak brook, so it is an attractive location due to the proximity to I88. It also seems that you can get a good-sized home for decent money, etc. We have been very happy out here for over 20 years!

[gardener34]

Good p.r. plug for crestwood!

Our sales out here seem flat, in the fox valley area. Houses sell but not quickly. But they don't sit on the market long unless there is something wrong with them.

According to the stats, the properties are worth 3% less, but that tax assessor says the values increased! How does that happen?

[sgresident]

tax assessments are based on the sales from the prior 3 years. so, during that time, things were on the rise out this way!

[Justabystander]

[quote=Virginia7;5406007]Housing Bulletin—Where the Sales Are - Deal Estate - September 2008 - Chicago

I thought that the list posted today of "where the sales are" was pretty interesting and somewhat surprising, I'm curious to see what those of you who know these areas and know real estate better than I do think of it.

It won't let me post the chart in here but you can see it in the above link.

The only suburbs that it listed that saw an increase in sales in 2008 from 2007 are Itasca, Crestwood, Naperville, Western Springs, River Forest, Lincolnwood and Sugar Grove (In that order in terms of percent increase)

The prices in those towns fell or barely rose, and all are pretty desireable in their respective areas, thus sales may have been up because of that. I think that Western Springs went up 4%, the most of any town on your list, but neighboring Hinsdale went up almost 9% in the same period, while the sales were down slightly there.

What I did notice in the "Deal Estate" section was that Hinsdale was the suburb with the most $ Million Dollar sales during the last time period, beating out Winnetka, Lake Forest and Glencoe. I sometimes get tired of hearing how the North Shore is the only place for desireability to live on this web site, with certain North Shore boosters that have a narrow view on places. What also interested me was the percentage increase in prices of towns, with the west suburbs out-pacing the north suburbs by a wide margin. Tops were River Forest, Clarendon Hills, and Hinsdale.

I look forward to the stats in Chicago magazine each October.

What I did notice is that