"Buying real estate is not only the best way, the quickest way, the safest way, but the only way to become wealthy." - Marshall Field
Real estate is the foundation of wealth building. Owning real estate provides a host of benefits including:
Equity - Renting is often compared to paying 100% interest. However, when you own a home a portion of your payment goes toward principal and reduces the amount owed with every payment. Over time this builds equity and acts as a form of savings.
Appreciation - Despite short term fluctuations, home values tend to go up over longer periods of time. The increase in value becomes equity that you can benefit from when you sell or refinance.
Education - Research shows that children of homeowners do better in school and graduate at a higher rate than renters.
Roots - People who own stay in homes 4x longer. This helps foster a sense of community and connection with neighbors.
Happiness - Pride of homeownership promotes feelings of well-being. When you own a home, you can make any improvements or changes you want to, get pets or plant trees. Homeownership provides freedom!
Tax Savings - Homeowners get additional tax deductions. Interest on your mortgage and other home related expenses can be tax deductible. Consult your tax professional to learn more.
Median Sales Price
Median Market Time
Homes for Sale
Homes Under Contract
Closed Sales
A note about the charts - Each chart represents a 3 month moving average which smooths out the data. For example, the current month's median price includes this month and the 2 previous months data. Median is an approximation of the middle of a data set where 50% of the data is above the median and 50% is below the median.
The entire MLS represents data from MRED and covers the Chicago Metro Region including, but not limited to, Chicago, Naperville, Aurora, Joliet, Elgin, Plainfield, St. Charles, Palatine, Crystal Lake, Downers Grove, Arlington Heights, Livingston, Mchenry, Orland Park, Evanston, Des Plaines, and Wheaton. It includes the counties of Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane, Will, Grundy, Kankakee and Champaign.
Each chart represents a 3 month moving average which smooths out the data. For example, the current month's median price includes this month and the 2 previous months data. Median is an approximation of the middle of a data set where 50% of the data is above the median and 50% is below the median.
We recommend bookmarking this page as the data will update monthly as new data becomes available.