THE NEAR WEST SIDE:  AN EMERGING COMMUNITY AREA    OVERVIEW The Near West Side Community area includes a variety of developing neighborhoods including the job-rich University Village/Circle Campus area, the improving commercial part of the South Loop, and most importantly, the conversion and new construction residential areas of the West Loop Gate and Greektown. The Near West Side is a redeveloped, mostly condo area, which has become residential only in the past ten years. By now, it is one of the City’s more significant condo neighborhoods. Because of its proximity to the central business district, and due to the number of conversions in the area, the Near West Side has been commonly known as a lower-priced, “starter home” neighborhood. Recent statistics indicate the beginning of more expensive, ‘trade up’ market as well. SALES VOLUME IN THE PAST DECADE This market has seen tremendous growth in the past ten years in sales volume.                                                            1995---75 units sold                                                            2000---746 units sold                                                           2005---1,670 (projected) Price increases for condo units, especially the more expensive units have increased rapidly during the past decade.  The gap between the ‘typical’ (median) unit price and the more expensive units, which pull up the area’s “average price,” have widened.  This price gap indicates the beginning of a differentiation in Near West Side prices, a gap between starter units and trade up units. This gap has been a regular characteristic of the general condo market in the City. This gap occurs whenever there is a wide diversity in the quality, location, and size of condo units. In its early days, the Near West Side had mostly smaller units, and as a result, both its median and average numbers were similar.      TEN YEAR TREND IN WEST SIDE CONDO PRICES                                  Median               Average              Difference                  1994        $161,050             $156,747            <$4,303                  2000        $241,338             $261,070             $19,723>                  2004        $291,000             $314,138             $23,138>          3rd.Q-2005      $309,450              $338,201            $28,751>             $ change     +$148,400           +$181,454           +$33,054            % change          +92%                +116%                +168%         THE GAP BETWEEN MEDIAN AND AVERAGE SALES PRICES                      (current MLS ‘ACTIVE’ listings)                                   Citywide             Lake View          Near West Side    # of 11/4 listings           25,330                  1,077                     883 Days on market              120                      107                      219 Median price               $239,000           $349,000                $335,000 Average price              $316,000           $390,000                $377,000 Price differential         +$77,000           +$41,000                +$42,000   THE GAP BETWEEN MEDIAN AND AVERAGE SALES PRICES     FOR 1, 2, AND 3 BEDROOM UNITS ON THE NEAR WEST SIDE                                   (Units Pending as of 11/04/05)                                  All Sizes         1 bedroom        2 bedroom      3 bedroom   Number Pending           1158                    412                  625                110 Days on the Market        194                    288                  136                175 Median price            $279,000            $249,400          $289,900        $449,450   Average price            $303,000            $249,473         $303,424         $460,957 Price Gap                  $24,000                  $73               $13,524          $11,507 $ Volume               $350,171,588      $102,782,952   $189,640,504   $50,705,300 While it is clear that there is price gap developing among Near West Side units, in terms of ‘starter’ units versus more upscale units, the most significant thing about area sales activity, has been the rapid increase the number of days that condo units are on the market.  Market statistics indicate that as the volume of Near West Side sales have increased, the length of time that area units were listed increased substantially. By 2005, listing times for Near West Side units were substantially above citywide numbers. And when compared to the high volume, well developed Lake View condo markets, Near West Side listing periods were significantly longer. We can conclude that although the Near West Side market has come a long way in terms of units sold, and price differentiation, the resale market there remains constrained.    RECENT MARKET TRENDS FOR NEAR WEST SIDE CONDO SALES                                          ALL SOLD UNITS *                       CURRENTLY LISTED                                                                          # of Units        Days on Market        # of Units      Days on Market      $250-299,000              257                     81                         200                  29      $300-349,000              198                     80                         177                  229      $350-399,000              150                   133                         116                  274      $400-449,000                95                   174                          90                   171       $450-499,000                37                   151                          50                   194            TOTAL                 981                  106                         883                   219    *Within past 180 days only.   NEWLY  CONSTRUCTED UNITS EXEMPT FROM THE LONG LISTING RULE The only exception to the long listing periods for Near West Side units, is newly constructed units. When multiple listing statistics are searched for units newly constructed since the beginning of 2004, the average listing periods shorten significantly in nearly all categories.                                                                 CURRENTLY LISTED                                                 ALL TYPES UNITS          NEWLY CONSTRUCTED          # of Listings                               883                                    250 Days on the market                              219                                     139 Meidan Price                                  $335,000                               $327,400  Average price                                 $377,000                               $360,251 Price differential                               $42,000                              +$32,728   UNITS CURRENTLY PENDING                                                ALL UNIT TYPES          NEW CONSTRUCTION Number of listings                             1158                                   207 Days on Market                                  194                                     31     Median Price                                    $279,000                            $291,500 Average Price                                   $303,000                            $302,326                       Price Gap                                           $24,000                            $10,826 Volume                                     $ 350,171,588                         $62,581,530      LISTING TIME FOR CERTAIN NEW UNITS PENDING VS ALL  UNITS                                                 NEW UNITS               ALL TYPES OF UNITS                                2 Bedrooms      30 days                            136 days                 SUMMARY OF KEY TRENDS SALES VOLUME AND PRICES UP SUBSTANTIALLY CURRENT STARTER UNIT PRICES FLAT A HIGHER END MARKET IS DEVELOPING, WITH CONTINUING PRICE INCREASES FOR TWO BEDROOMS OR LARGER TIME LISTED ON THE MARKET HAS INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY FOR ALL UNIT TYPE AND PRICE CATEGORIES EXISTING TWO-BEDROOM UNITS ARE SELLING FASTER, WITH PRICES STILL INCREASING NEW CONSTUCTION UNITS ARE PRICED MUCH HIGHER FOR CURRENTLY LISTED UNITS THAN FOR PENDING UNITS NEW CONSTRUCTION PENDING TIMES ARE VERY SHORT PJFugiel  11-05-05 © 2005 * Market data supplied by the Fast Stat data base provided by the Chicago Association of Realtors and Multiple Listing Service  (MLSNI) community area statistics for the Near West Side.