March 8, 2016 – Suddenly, there are upscale single-family home and condominium bargains in the posh sector of properties that sold for more than $500,000 in Chicago’s ritziest Near North neighborhoods, an annual sales analysis has revealed.

Yes, luxury homes and condos were in high demand in 2015 – there were hundreds more units sold than in 2014. But resale prices for properties in the $500,000-and-up bracket have slipped from 2014 levels in some upper-crust areas, the annual Study Study of Residential Real Estate revealed.

Compiled by Louise Study, a broker associate at Baird & Warner’s Gold Coast office, the annual report is a compilation and analysis of upper-end real estate listings in ten Chicago neighborhoods.

In the posh Gold Coast and surrounding Near North neighborhoods, 27 luxury single-family homes and 991 upscale condos, co-operative apartments, and townhomes were sold in 2015.

However, the median luxury home price in 2015 slipped to $2.06 million, compared with a hefty $3.07 million on 30 sales in 2014. That’s a 33 percent decline in price.

In 2015, the median price for upscale condos, co-ops, and townhomes in the Gold Coast/Near North area – which includes Trump International Hotel & Tower (left) in River North – declined to $725,795. There were 400 condo sales in the area in 2014 for a median price of $899,000, down 19 percent. What’s causing this decline in luxury home and condo prices? Wealth analysts say it partly could be a slumping global economy and the downturn in the U.S. stock market which began in mid-2015. Wall Street analysts officially rated it a Bear Market at the beginning of 2016.

Forbes recently released its annual ranking of global billionaires and the survey revealed that some of Chicago’s richest residents saw their personal wealth decline by hundreds of millions in the second half of 2015.

“Virtually across all housing sectors – single-family homes, townhomes, and condominiums – in all of Chicago’s elite neighborhoods, the number of properties sold in 2015 increased between 25 and 200 percent compared with 2014,” noted Study (right).

Chicago’s other top upscale neighborhoods posted mixed price and transaction results in 2015 in most housing sectors…

Lincoln Park & Old Town. A total of 197 luxury single-family homes were sold at a median price of $1.6 million in 2015. Home prices ranged from $575,000 to a whopping $13.345 million. Some 545 upscale condo sales were posted at a median price of $667,000. Prices of condos surveyed ranged from $500,000 to $6 million. However, median luxury home and condo prices in Lincoln Park slipped dramatically in 2015, compared with 2014. A year earlier, the median home price was $2.533 million, while median upscale condo prices were $725,000.

Lake View. A total of 159 luxury single-family homes were sold at a median price of $1.345 million in 2015. Home prices surveyed ranged from $500,000 to $4.15 million in 2015. However, the median home price was $1.85 million in Lake View in 2014. Some 447 upscale condos, co-ops, or townhomes sold in 2015 at a median price of $605,000, down from $649,250 a year earlier.

Eight luxury homes were sold in the West Loop last year – with a median price of $917,150 – up from eight in 2014, though the median value declined by $282,850. In the South Loop, only two luxury homes were sold in 2015 – with price tags of $1.2 million and $1.9 million – down from nine the previous year.