The October issue of Chicago Magazine features a rundown of home prices and appreciation trends in Chicago’s neighborhoods and suburbs.
Chicago’s southern suburbs fared badly – very badly, in a number of cases – in home value appreciation. Negative appreciation, i.e. depreciation, is a more accurate description of the experience of home values in many of Chicago’s southern suburbs.
Nine of the 10 suburbs that fared the worst (North Chicago being the only exception), are in the southland. The average sale prices and percent depreciations since 1994 for the 10 biggest losers are:
- Harvey: $22,648, -49.53%
- Riverdale: $33,673, -49.45%
- Robbins: $16,680, -45.49%
- Dolton, $49,447: -34.42%
- North Chicago: $51,646, -33.38%
- Sauk Village: $40,864, -32.45%
- Burnham: $47,089, -31.46%
- Park Forest: $59,032, -24.76%
- Calumet Park: $51,901, -21.14%
- Calumet City: $63,121, – 18.62%
In case you’re wondering, the lowest average sales price was in Ford Heights, at $9,660. Sales prices for 1994 were unavailable for Ford Heights, or it might have made the top 10 list. When you take taxes into account, you can buy three average-priced homes in Ford Heights for less than the cost of the average new car.