CHICAGO — Prices for Cook County single family homes in the second quarter of 2013 were up more than nine percent year over year and experienced their second consecutive positive quarter. Since reaching their low point in the first quarter of 2012, single family home price trends have been positive in four out of the last five quarters according to the Sept. 18 release of the Cook County House Price Index from the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University.

The most recent data also found long-term price trends and recent improvement in house prices look different for neighborhoods in Cook County that were heavily impacted by the foreclosure crisis, than in those less impacted by foreclosures throughout the housing crisis. Data shows the recovery is being led by neighborhoods that saw limited foreclosure activity between 2005 and 2012. Meanwhile, the report shows areas that saw high levels of foreclosure activity, while experiencing some price recovery, have a much longer road back to pre-crisis price levels.

In areas of Cook County with the lowest levels of foreclosure activity, prices are only down 17 percent from their peak and have increased nine percent year over year. The institute defines these areas as having less than 10 percent of their residential parcels impacted by foreclosure between 2005 and 2012. However, in areas with the highest levels of foreclosure activity, or where more than 25 percent of residential parcels were impacted by at least one foreclosure during the same time period, prices for single family homes have declined 58 percent since their peak and have only increased 5.3 percent since the second quarter of 2012.

“These trends show neighborhood housing markets in Cook County continuing to move along two divergent paths,” said Geoff Smith, executive director of the Institute for Housing Studies.

“Neighborhoods that escaped the foreclosure crisis with limited damage have been able to retain much of their value and are in the midst of what appears to be a strong recovery. Meanwhile, areas that were hardest hit by foreclosures are seeing a much slower rebound and have a longer road before they return to even 2000 prices,” he said.

The Index also found that home prices were recovering faster within the city of Chicago than in suburban Cook County. In the city, prices for single family homes increased 12 percent compared to the second quarter of 2012, while in suburban Cook County prices increased just under eight percent year over year. However in both the city and the suburbs, the second quarter of 2013 saw particularly strong increases over the previous quarter with a nine percent increase quarter over quarter within the city and a five percent increase since the previous quarter in suburban Cook County.

The Institute for Housing Studies is a research center based at DePaul University that provides analysis and data to inform affordable housing policy and practice. The institute’s second quarter 2013 House Price Index tracks quarterly price changes for single family properties in Cook County with repeat sales from the first quarter of 1997 through the second quarter of 2013.

Visit housingstudies.org for the most recent summary of quarterly Cook County House Price Index data. Archived quarterly summaries are also available online.


SOURCE:
Geoff Smith
gsmith33@depaul.edu
312-362-5962


MEDIA CONTACT:
Tina Fassett
KFASSETT@depaul.edu
312-362-5974