The North Shore real estate market in the first half of 2018 has been steady. Median prices of North Shore single family homes are up 1% for the first half of 2018, and the number of home closings is down 4% compared to last year. Market time has decreased by 4 days and inventory has been level. These numbers show a good, steady North Shore market. Individual suburbs varied in their performance. Wilmette had a particularly strong first half with a 10% increase in sales and 20% decrease in market time.
Here are the first half statistics.
| Number of Homes Sales | Average Market Time | |||||||
| 1/2 yr-17 | 1/2 yr-18 | 1/2 yr-17 | 1/2 yr-18 | |||||
| Wilmette | 202 | 222 | 107 | 85 | ||||
| Evanston | 228 | 230 | 72 | 77 | ||||
| Winnetka | 141 | 122 | 169 | 157 | ||||
| Glenview | 306 | 273 | 114 | 115 | ||||
| North Shore | 2366 | 2273 | 122 | 118 | ||||
| Average Home Price (in thousands) | Median Home Price (in thousands) | |||||||
| 1/2 yr-17 | 1/2 yr-18 | % Change | 1/2 yr-17 | 1/2 yr-18 | % Change | |||
| Wilmette | 833 | 930 | 12% | 725 | 823 | 14% | ||
| Evanston | 620 | 644 | 4% | 531 | 555 | 5% | ||
| Winnetka | 1307 | 1688 | 29% | 1123 | 1182 | 5% | ||
| Glenview | 640 | 645 | 1% | 546 | 565 | 3% | ||
| North Shore | 685 | 707 | 3% | 545 | 550 | 1% | ||
The above statistics are for detached single family homes and were compiled from data collected by the Multiple Listing Service (Midwest Real Estate Data LLC), and may not include all home sales.
Prices: The North Shore as a whole saw modest price appreciation in 2018 with the median up 1% and average up 3%. That varied by location with some areas seeing solid increases and others remaining level. However, it is hard to judge an individual suburb’s price performance with just half a year of sales. The sample size is small enough that a few extra sales at the high or low end can throw off the numbers. For instance, the average price in Winnetka was up statistically 29%, but in reality that is not the case. That number was affected by more high end sales in 2018, than in 2017. Its median price was only up 5%. Median prices are less affected by some extra high end sales.
Inventory: Wilmette currently has 176 active homes on the market that are not under contract. That is about 5 months of inventory at the current pace of sales. This is up slightly from the 166 homes that were on last year at this time. Evanston inventory has been tight and steady. Its 133 active homes is just 3.5 months of inventory. Winnetka has 164 active homes which is 8.2 months of inventory and Glenview has 313 homes which is 6.9 months. The North Shore as a whole has 2676 active homes that are not under contract which is 7.1 months of inventory, which is a small increase from 2017.
Interest Rates: Interest rates have risen in the past year. Currently a 30 year fixed is about 4.5% and a 15 year is about 4%. These are both up about half a point from this time last year and a full point from 2016. Moreover, rates have been rising for the last couple years.
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