North Shore Views

Romona Neighborhood Home Sales – 2011

The most affordable of Wilmette’s neighborhoods, the Romona School neighborhood had the biggest sales increase (+8%) in 2011. It also suffered the biggest decline in home prices, with a median selling price of $350,000 and an average selling price of $420,824 for 2011. Market time jumped in the last year, to 93 days or three months. Four of the homes sold were short sales and one was a foreclosure.

Source: MRED llc – Data for single family homes. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed

Related articles:

• Harper Neighborhood Home Sales

• McKenzie Neighborhood Home Sales

• East Wilmette (Central School) Neighborhood Home Sales

Tags: North Shore real estate trends, Romona School, Wilmette neighborhoods

McKenzie Neighborhood Home Sales – 2011

This is second in a series of posts about neighborhood level data for Wilmette. McKenzie neighborhood home sales in 2011 were roughly even with 2010 and 19% higher than 2009. As with Central School, prices declined in 2011, while market time increased by 27% to an average of 89 days or three months.

McKenzie Neighborhood Home Sales – 2011

Source: MRED LLC – Single family homes data. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Want to know what your neighbor’s house sold for? You can see that here. Want to know what your home is worth in today’s market? Give us a call at 847-881-6657 and we’d be glad to provide you with a complimentary, no obligation, home value analysis. Or you can get a free, quick, over-the-net evaluation.

Tags: McKenzie School, North Shore real estate trends, Wilmette neighborhoods

East Wilmette (Central School) Home Sales – 2011

I previously posted about 2011 home sales for each of the communities on the North Shore. But even within a given community sales activity, prices and market times can be vary widely. To show what is happening on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis, I’ll do a series of four posts. breaking down the data by elementary school in Wilmette.  This chart is for the Central School neighborhood, aka East Wilmette.

East Wilmette Home Sales – 2011

Source: MRED LLC – Data for single family homes. Deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

East Wilmette/Central School is the largest neighborhood in Wilmette and also the highest priced area. While sales in East Wilmette were up a modest 1% over 2010, they were up 21% from 2009. Median and average price fell 10% and 18% respectively from last year. Market time was up somewhat but at 76 days (2.5 months) it is down 14% from 2009.

Want to know what your Wilmette neighbor’s house sold for? You can see that here. Want to know what your home is worth in today’s market? Give us a call at 847-881-6657 and we’d be glad to provide you with a complimentary, no obligation, home value analysis. Or you can get a free, quick, over-the-net evaluation.

Tags: East Wilmette, North Shore market data, Wilmette neighborhoods

Wilmette Neighborhoods: McKenzie Square

McKenzie Square is the neighborhood adjacent to McKenzie Elementary School. I don’t think it’s the official name of the neighborhood. I think it was the invention of some real estate agent somewhere along the line. Anyway, the boundaries of McKenzie Square are Lake Ave. to the north, Wilmette Ave. to the south, Ridge Rd. to the west and 15th St. to the east. This is not the entire McKenzie School footprint. That extends north of Lake, south of Wilmette and as far as Green Bay to the east.

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McKenzie Square is a super-convenient place to live because it’s centrally located in Wilmette and you can easily walk to town, the train, the library and several parks, as well as to McKenzie Elementary and Highcrest Middle School and St. Joseph Catholic Church.

The neighborhood is full of traditional homes shaded by large trees. Highland Avenue and 16th Street are two of Wilmette’s many brick streets, which adds to the charm. Lot sizes are typically 50 x 160 ft. and most houses have 4-5 bedrooms. Architectural styles include Georgian, Four Square and farmhouse (many with front porches), as well as a few bungalows and cape cods sprinkled throughout. Most homes date from the first half of the 20th century, though some smaller old homes have been torn down and replaced with new construction. Unlike nearby Kenilworth Gardens, most houses in McKenzie Square have garages off the alley rather than driveways in front.

Home prices range from $700,000 to $1,200,000, but they can go as high as $1,600,000 for larger new homes.

Currently there are only three homes for sale in McKenzie Square. The smallest has only three bedrooms and is $649,000. The largest is newer construction and is listed at $1,049,000.

If you’d like to see any of these homes, please give me a call at 847-687-5957 or email me. You can also search for Wilmette homes here.

Tags: McKenzie Square, Wilmette neighborhoods

The Birdhouse Garden

There’s this wonderful perennial garden on the corner of Elmwood Ave. and Hunter Rd. in Kenilworth Gardens. All summer long and into the autumn passersby are greeted by a profusion of flowers and a charming collection of hand-painted birdhouses. It’s always a surprise to see what’s in bloom at any given moment, so I thought I would document the changes throughout the growing season.

We haven’t had many warm days yet, so the garden doesn’t look like much right now. But the tulips are up. Peony shoots are just starting to peek out of the ground. The little blue flowers are called Glory of the Snow and are one of the earliest bloomers around here. The birdhouses are still wintering inside.

Tags: gardens, Wilmette neighborhoods

McKenzie Neighborhood Home Sales – 1st Quarter 2011

2011 got off to a slower start than 2010 as we didn’t have a home buyer tax credit to help us out this year.

You can see what individual houses sold for here.

Tags: North Shore market data, Wilmette neighborhoods

East Wilmette Home Sales – 1st Quarter 2011

East Wilmette’s first quarter numbers are not as good as they were last year when we had the tax credit. We’ll see how things develop as the year goes on. You can see more detailed market stats here.

Tags: North Shore market data, Wilmette neighborhoods

Harper Neighborhood Home Sales – 1st Quarter 2011

Sales in Wilmette’s Harper School neighborhood (as well as just about every other neighborhood) declined in the first quarter vs. last year. But remember, that’s when the home buyer’s tax credit was in place, which boosted sales last year. I would expect things to even out as the year goes on.

If you’re wondering what that house up the street sold for, you can go here.

Tags: North Shore market data, Wilmette neighborhoods

Romona Neighborhood Home Sales Data: 2010

Wilmette’s Romona neighborhood had strong sales activity in 2010, up 19% over 2009. The median prices was up 3%. As the most affordable neighborhood in Wilmette, 74% of homes in Romona sold for under $600,000. 23% sold for between $600,000 and $1,000,000 and only 2% sold for over $1,000,000.  There were four short sales in Romona in 2010.

Romona Neighborhood Home Sales Statistics

You can see what individual homes sold for on your street or in your neighborhood to get an idea of your own home’s relative value. Or go here to request a quick, over-the-net home evaluation from us.

Related articles:

• Harper Neighborhood Home Sales
• McKenzie Neighborhood Home Sales
• Central School Neighborhood Home Sales

Tags: North Shore market data, Wilmette neighborhoods

Central School Neighborhood Home Sales Data: 2010

Wilmette’s Central School neighborhood showed healthy growth in 2010 with home sales up 19% over last year and median selling price up 3%. 2010 selling prices ranged from  $350,000 to $4,750,000. As Wilmette’s priciest part of town, only 13% of homes sold under $600,000. 42% sold for between $600,000 and $1,000,000, while 45% sold for over $1,000,000. Two of the homes that sold were short sales and one was a foreclosure.

Days on market decreased 20%. While average market time was 70 days, 43% of homes sold in 30 days or less.

Central School Neighborhood Home Sales Statistics

You can see what individual homes sold for on your street or in your neighborhood to get an idea of your own home’s relative value. Or go here to request a quick, over-the-net home evaluation from us.

Related articles:

• Harper Neighborhood Home Sales Data
• McKenzie Neighborhood Home Sales Data

Tags: North Shore market data, Wilmette neighborhoods