real estate market

Home sales in The Glen by neighborhood

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The Glen is an upscale residential and retail development in Glenview Illinois on Chicagoland‘s North Shore.  It is home to 1,255 privately owned residences in 9 distinct neighborhoods.  The Glen’s “main street” called Glen Town Center offers scores of restaurants and shops, as well as a movie theater, coffee shop, book store, and Kohl Children’s Museum.  The development also boasts a lake, park, recreation center, playgrounds, and two golf courses.  Recently I did an accounting of all home sales in The Glen in 2013 by neighborhood using MLS data, and here is what I found:

Cambridge is the development north of W. Lake, and it runs from Patriot Blvd to The Glen’s Metra train station.  It has 278 homes (townhomes, duplexes, two-flats, and single family homes).  14 homes sold in 2013 totaling $7,702,500, an average of $550,178.

Chapel Crossing is a development east of Patriot Blvd and south of Chestnut.  It has 168 single family homes.  9 homes sold totaling $9,283,750, an average of $1,031,527.

Glen Shore is a condominium development on the north side of Chestnut, nearly bordering Lehigh.  It has 31 units.  3 units sold totaling $917,500, an average of $305,833.

Landings is a development south of Chestnut and east of Chapel Crossing.  It has 143 single family homes.  8 homes sold totaling $7,110,000, an average of $888,750.

Patriot Commons is a development west of Patriot Blvd and south of Chestnut.  It borders The Glen Club golf course to the west. It has 68 townhomes and condo apartments.  1 home sold at $465,000.

Regency is the new Pulte development a quarter mile north of W. Lake and west of Shermer Rd.  149 townhomes and ranch villas (and 2 SFH) are planned.  All but 9 units have been sold as of 2.15.14.  29 sales totaled $13,397,485, an average of $461,982.

Southgate Single Family Homes is a development south of W. Lake, and it is bordered on the west by The Glen Club’s golf course.  The southern boundary is Independence Avenue.  It has 237 homes.  11 homes sold for a total of $13,037,000, an average of $1,185,181.

Southgate townhomes are in the confines of the Southgate development.  There are 62 units.  6 homes sold totaling $2,320,000 an average of $386,666.

Tower Crossing is a luxury townhome development bordering Glen Town Center on 3 sides.  It has 154 units.  20 homes sold totaling $13,673,900, an average of $683,695.

Obviously it was a very successful year for home sales in The Glen.  For information about homes for sale in The Glen, please contact me at 847-401-1802 or by email margaretludemann@gmail.com.

Margaret Ludemann, Glen resident and @properties Realtor

The Glen’s Tower Crossing townhomes saw a 6.1% increase in prices in 2013

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In a blog about a month ago I wrote about the substantial increase in sales of Tower Crossing townhomes in 2013.  Today I would like to tell you about the increase in prices.  Tower Crossing is a townhome development in the larger development called The Glen in Glenview, Illinois.  The Glen is home to several luxury housing neighborhoods, a “main street” called Glen Town Center with numerous shops and eateries, a lake, park, and two golf courses.  Tower Crossing has 154 stunning brick homes with 2 to 5 bedrooms and 3031 sq ft to 4105 sq ft, depending on model.

The developer began selling Tower Crossing’s luxury townhomes in 2003 and sold out by 2007. Nationally the housing bubble began to burst in 2005/06 with prices peaking in July 2006.  A steep decline followed.  2007, the year of the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage industry, saw the first year-over-year decline in home prices nationally since 1991.  Like the national downward trend, Tower Crossing suffered a sizable and rapid decline in home values.  From peak to bottom, Tower Crossing homes lost approximately 25% of their market value.

Homes in Tower Crossing currently sell in a range from the mid-$600,000’s to about $800,000 depending on size and model.  Prices in 2009 averaged $179.43 p/sq ft.  They rose to $189.02 in 2010 and stayed relatively flat in 2011 ($188.86) and 2012 ($186.88).  In 2013, however, prices in Tower Crossing rose 6.1% to $198.28 p/sq ft.  This represents an increase of 10.5% since 2009.

The Tower Crossing rental market also saw an increase in prices.  11 MLS-listed townhomes rented in 2013 vs. 12 in 2012 and 13 in 2011.  The range of prices paid in 2013 was $3400 to $4400 p/month.  The average rental price paid p/sq ft (using 1 month rental price) was $1.24 compared with $1.15 in 2012, a 7.8% increase.

Tower Crossing is a very popular development in The Glen, and it had a great 2013 in terms of home sales and prices.  If you would like more information about Tower Crossing please contact me at 847-401-1802 or margaretludemann@gmail.com

Margaret Ludemann, Glen resident and @properties Realtor

2013 sales increase in Southgate on The Glen

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Single family home sales in the Southgate neighborhood increased in 2013, from 9 in 2012 to 13 in 2013.  Further, 3 additional homes went under contract that had not closed by year end.  More impressive is the improvement from 2009 when only 2 single family home’s sold.

Before going further, here’s a little Southgate 101.  Southgate is a housing development in The Glen in Glenview, Illinois on Chicago’s North Shore.  The Glen is an upscale residential and retail community with 9 named neighborhoods, one of which is Southgate, and a shopping & dining “main street” called Glen Town Center.  Southgate has 299 homes of which 237 are luxury single family homes.  Many of these homes border The Glen Club’s 18 hole championship golf course.

Let’s look at the prices of the Southgate homes that sold in 2013.  (Street name, followed by size in square feet, and price.)  I do not provide specific addresses out of courtesy to the new homeowners. 

Kittyhawk ,  4618,  $1,250,000

Independence,  4618,   $1,430,000

Bennington,  3456,  $1,000,000

Kittyhawk, 4080,  $1,250,000

Saratoga,  4080, $1,279,000

Midway,  3814,  $1,315,000

Independence,  4164,  $1,350,000

Saratoga,  3805,  $1,140,000

Cabot,  4700,  $1,310,000

Independence,  3498,  $1,160,000

Bennington,  3796,  $1,100,000

Independence,  4232,  $972,000

Kittyhawk,  4253,  $1,215,000

Digging deeper into the sales data we find two other pieces of very good news.  First, no sales listings expired or were cancelled due to an inability to find buyers.  By contrast, 4 listed single family homes in Southgate failed to sell in 2012 and 1 rental listing did not find a renter.  Second, Southgate had no distressed properties listed for sale last year.  A distressed property is either bank owned or it involves a short sale; and they typically sell for well under market value.

Southgate’s sales performance is consistent with what occurred throughout the country in 2013.   The number of homes sold nationally increased by 9.1%; Illinois home sales increased 18.9%; and in the Chicago primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (+ 23%).  Glenview home sales increased 19%.  I see another strong year for home sales in The Glen and in Southgate in 2014.

Margaret Ludemann, Glen homeowner and @properties Realtor

847-401-1802    margaret.ludemann@gmail.com

2013 homes sales UP in Tower Crossing

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Tower Crossing is a townhome development in The Glen, Glenview Illinois.  It is composed of 154 stunning units varying in size from 3031 sq ft to 4105 sq ft.  2013 was a very successful year for real estate sales, home rentals and home prices in this development.  In this blog I will tell you about the increase in sales.

20 Tower Crossing homes sold in 2013, compared with 11 in 2012, 13 in 2011, 6 in 2010, and 7 in 2009.  I had the good fortune to list and sell nearly half of all homes sold in 2013 (9 of 20).  7 realtors combined to sell the other 11 homes.

1 Distressed property sold in 2013.  A single distressed property sale in 2013 represents an improvement as compared with 2012 (4 sales) and 2011 (3 sales).  Distressed properties (bank owned or short sales) typically sell for well under market value, and that was the case with the Omni model bank owned property that sold in 2013.

Only 1 listed Tower Crossing home failed to sell in 2013!  20 of 21 listed homes sold last year compared with 4 failures in 2012.  Given the strength of the real estate market last year, it is surprising that even one home failed to sell. This was NOT my listing.

Time-on-market was greatly improved in 2013.  Time-on-market refers to the number of days between listing a home for sale and when it goes under contract with buyers.

The 19 non-distressed Tower Crossing homes sold in 2013 were on the market for a combined 1012 days, an average of 53 days.  This compares very favorably to 75 days in 2012.  It is vastly improved over the roughly 4 months in 2011 and 7 months in 2010.  I am proud that my non-distressed Tower Crossing sales in 2013 averaged only 17 days on market.  Tower Crossing homes sold by other realtors averaged 79 days.

Margaret Ludemann, Tower Crossing homeowner and @properties Realtor, 847-401-1802

Home sales surge, prices rise, time on market falls in The Glen

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2013 was the year that Glen homeowners have been waiting for.  The Glen is an upscale residential and retail development in Glenview, Illinois in the Chicago area’s North Shore. The real estate market for its homes was exceptionally strong.  Sales were up considerably, prices rebounded nicely, and the time it took to sell homes fell.  Further, nearly every Glen home listed for sale in 2013 sold.

Broad economic factors positively influenced existing home sales in the U.S. which gained 9.3% for the year.  The U.S. economy gathered strength through 2013.  Job growth continued to climb.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the unemployment rate fell to 7% by November 2013 from 7.9% in January 2013 and from its recent high of 10% in October 2009.  Interest rates remained at historically low levels, though they inched upward during the year.  Low rates and the prospect of higher future interest rates served as incentives for many potential home buyers.  Stocks soared during the year with the S & P 500 gaining 29.6% which no doubt made potential home buyers feel more financially secure.

Years of declining values once again brought many bargain hunting investors into the U.S. housing market.  Pent up demand by trade-up buyers also fueled the increase in home sales. 

As prices rose during the year fewer homeowners found themselves “under water” (homes worth less than the mortgage balance), thereby reducing their incentive to sell.  This resulted in a decline of available housing inventory.  Over the last several years sellers far outnumbered buyers, but that was reversed in 2013 giving sellers the negotiating advantage.  The result…further improvement in home prices.

It was the best year for home sales and prices in years, and you will see that reflected in my future blogs dealing specifically with sales of Glen homes.

Margaret Ludemann

Glen homeowner and @properties Realtor