By Don DeBat

Jun. 18, 2025 – Chicago’s North Side home resale market resembled a frantic chess game in May as creative realty agents continued to exercise new gambits.

“Buyers’ brokers rushed to be the first in line for showings and added new incentives to their contracts in an effort to make their offer the most attractive,” noted Baird & Warner broker John Irwin. “Buyers often had to make offers after seeing the home once, without a second showing.”

For the second consecutive month, historically low inventory levels in May 2025 resulted in home sales decreases of 10.1 percent vs. May 2024, noted Irwin, co-author, with Jackie Lafferty of Baird & Warner, of the June Market Analysis for Chicago’s North Side. The analysis covers four key areas: Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Near North/Gold Coast, and North Center.

“The continuing decline of North Side home inventory has resulted in some chaotic situations,” Irwin said. “And sellers’ brokers continue to manage large open house turnouts and multiple-offer contracts.”

“Be sure that your broker has experience in navigating this sometimes difficult and complicated market to avoid being checkmated out of the deal,” Irwin advised. (Left) John Irwin and Jackie Lafferty.

Home loan rates down slightly

One ray of sunshine on the housing market last week was slightly lower interest rates. On June 5, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey reported that benchmark 30-year fixed home loan rates declined to 6.85 percent from 6.89 percent. A year ago, 30-year fixed-rate loans averaged 6.99 percent.

Here are details of the Baird & Warner North Side analysis:

Median home prices. May 2025 median home prices rose a solid 8.6 percent compared with May 2024. Lincoln Park and North Center posted increases, while Near North and Lakeview home prices dropped. Homes priced under $2 million rose from 1.4 to 3.6 percent while luxury homes priced over $2 million dropped 4.8 percent.

“With record low inventories, home prices were expected to spike,” Irwin said. “However, unlike the suburbs and other large cities nationwide, Chicago prices have remained relatively low in recent years.”

Despite the many multiple-offer situations in the current market, Irwin advised that sellers “should be sure that their listing price reflects the true market value of the neighborhood and property type.”

Sellers who overprice their homes in an effort to take advantage of low inventory levels can still experience long market times, he noted. Some savvy sellers are deliberately pricing their homes under market value in an effort to drive up the price through multiple offers.

Home sales slide. Unit sales plummeted a whopping 10.1 percent to 655 homes in May 2025 from 729 units in May 2024. Three of the four neighborhoods reported decreases and only Lincoln Park had an increase (4.1 percent). Homes priced under $1 million posted decreases while luxury homes priced over $1 million reported increases.

Homes under contract. A total of 666 homes went under contract in May 2025 – a 4 percent increase vs. May 2024. Lakeview and North Center reported increases, while Lincoln Park reported the only decrease, 3.5 percent. There was no change on the Near North Side and Gold Coast. Homes priced over $2 million, and those priced between $500,000 and $1 million, reported increases, while homes priced under $500,000 had decreases. There was no change in luxury homes priced over $2 million. Photo by Jon Bilous

“Homes that went under contract in May will probably close in June, giving us an indication of next month’s home sales activity,” said Irwin.

New listings. There were 1,068 new listings in May 2025, which represented a 16.9 percent decrease vs. May 2024. All four neighborhoods surveyed reported decreases ranging from 11.7 to 26.3 percent. When looking at May 2025 new listings by price point, according to Irwin, all four neighborhoods reported price point decreases, ranging from 5.1 to 24.3 percent.

Homes listed for sale. May 2025 inventories decreased 21.8 percent vs. May 2024. All four neighborhoods reported decreases, ranging from 21.1 to 25.0 percent. All four price points reported decreases, ranging from 9.0 percent in homes priced under $500,000 to a whopping 48.1 percent decrease for luxury homes priced over $2 million.

Photo by 606 Vision

Months of inventory supply. In May 2025, months of inventory supply (MSI) for the four neighborhoods dropped 26.7 percent to 2.2 MSI. The Near North Side, which traditionally has the highest MSI, dropped 23.6 percent to 4.2 MSI. The other three neighborhoods have a month of inventory supply between 1.4 and 1.8 MSI.

“It should be noted that 6.0 MSI to 7.0 MSI is considered the dividing line between a buyer’s market and a seller’s market,” noted Irwin. “Current MSI are historically low.”

Crystal ball gazing. “The current turmoil at the national and local levels of government makes it impossible to predict with certainty how our local real estate business will be affected,” Irwin said. “One thing is certain – the market needs a major influx of inventory.”

Many homeowners, however, are still reluctant to let go of their current 2-percent-plus to 3-percent-plus interest rate loans on their current homes, he said.

“Political and economic uncertainty, along with perceived or actual rising crime rates, are also keeping sellers on the sidelines,” said Irwin.