North Shore Views

North Shore Market Update – December 2009

In December 2009 sales of single family homes on the North Shore were up 32% vs. December 2008, while average prices were down 8%. Market time increased 21% to 200 days for sold properties.

Average prices declined in all towns except Glenview and Glencoe. Winnetka and Northfield had the largest price declines AND the largest increase in units sold, so price does seem to be the biggest driver in the market today.

Wilmette was the only town were there were fewer units sold in 2009 than 2008.

December 2009 vs. Year Ago*

	Units Sold	Avg. Price	Market Time
Town	% Change	% Chg	% Chg
Evanston	6%	-24%	20%
Wilmette	-22%	-14%	28%
Glenview	25%	16%	19%
Northfield	200%	-73%	159%
Winnetka	138%	-39%	-1%
Glencoe	38%	15%	69%
Highland Park	22%	-4%	-18%
Lake Forest	67%	-1%	25%
North Shore	32%	-8%	21%

* Single family homes (Source: MRED – Deemed reliable but not guaranteed)

Tags: Evanston, Glencoe, Glenview, Highland Park, Kenilworth, Lake Forest, North Shore market data, North Shore real estate trends, North Shore sales trends, Northfield, Wilmette, Winnetka

More Ice for Winnetka and Wilmette

If you figure skate or play hockey, you know that ice time is a precious commodity. There  never seems to be enough of it to accommodate all the games, practices, clinics and lessons, and skaters are often forced to practice at odd hours in order to pursue their sport.

Now, thanks to the tireless efforts of a few folks, the communities of Wilmette and Winnetka  have much more  ice time available with the construction of the North Shore Ice Arena (NSIA). The arena is jointly owned by the Winnetka Hockey Club and the Wilmette Hockey Association, whose teams practice and play at NSIA as well as at the Winnetka Ice Arena and Centennial Rink. The North Shore Ice Arena is also home to the DePaul Hockey Club and the New Trier Hockey Club. A men’s league and a figure skating school were recently added.

NSIA opened in the fall of 2008. It’s a 48,000 sq. ft. facility with one NHL sized rink and one 5,000 sq. ft. studio rink. There is also a pro shop, run by Total Hockey, as well as a snack bar and a few arcade games. To get there, take Waukegan Rd. north from Willow Rd and go west on Techny to Founder’s Drive. The rink is at 2111 Founders Drive in Northbrook (just north of  Willow Festival shopping center).

Tags: DePaul Hockey Club, ice hockey, New Trier Hockey Club, north shore ice arena, Northbrook, Wilmette, Wilmette Hockey Association, Winnetka, Winnetka Hockey Club

Got Stocking Stuffers?

I am WAY behind on my Christmas shopping. But today I made some headway,with just one visit to Beat Street on Green Bay Road in Hubbard Woods. This store is packed to the gills with literally thousands of items for sale, most of which are for kids and most of which are small and inexpensive. In other words, perfect stocking stuffers.

I bought my daughter a psychedelic fleece throw with multicolored peace signs, a spy case, a voice changer, a Bronx Cheer noisemaker, a little sparkly jewelry box,  a tarantula that expands about 1000% when immersed in water and miscellaneous other items.  I was tempted to buy the remote control giant scorpion but I decided enough is enough.

One hour and $97 later, I finally dragged myself out of there.

So, if you’re still shopping for stocking stuffers or other unusual gifts, beat it over to Beat Street.

Tags: Beat Street, holiday gifts, stores in Hubbard Woods, Winnetka

Winnetka Story

If you’re interested in (painlessly) learning about the history of Winnetka and the North Shore, check out a new documentary by John Newcombe in collaboration with the Winnetka Historical Society, called Winnetka Story: The History of Winnetka & The North Shore. Just produced this year, the film is a little over two hours long, but it’s divided into three parts so you can enjoy it in bite-sized pieces. Part 1 is about the early settlers to the area and covers the period 1832-1871. Part 2 takes us up to the turn of the century and Part 3 deals with the period 1900-1945.   John Newcombe now lives and works in California, but grew up in Winnetka and approached the Historical Society in the fall of 2007 about making a film about the history of the area. In an interview that coincided with the release of the film, he talked about how he went about crafting a film that would be both informative and entertaining. He said that he followed four rules:

1. Focus on personal stories, not just facts and dates.
2. Recount personal anecdotes and events, especially those that were dramatic or humorous.
3. Use comparisons (then and now photographs)
4. Edit ruthlessly to prevent boredom

One of the things I liked best was the effective use of then and now photographs. He would take an old photograph of a particular place and morph it into a new photograph of the same place taken from the same angle, right before your eyes. For example, a photo of the old school house that stood at the northwest corner of the Village Green fades out as a picture of the Village Green as it looks now fades in. This cool technique really brought the history to life.

The DVD is available from the Winnetka Historical Society for $19.95 plus tax.

Tags: Chicago North Shore, North Shore history, Winnetka

North Shore Housing Inventory Snapshot – December 1, 2009

Here’s a snapshot of what’s on the market right now, including list prices and time on market. Not surprisingly, there seems to be a direct correlation between price level and time on market, with Winnetka, Kenilworth and Lake Forest being the priciest markets and also the ones where market time is longest, at well over 300 days.

Town	# Units for Sale*	Median List Price	Average List Price	Average D.O.M.
Evanston	225	$514,000	$695,154	240
Wilmette	155	$710,000	$887,632	280
Glenview	380	$664,950	$792,208	263
Northfield	64	$732,000	$885,750	314
Kenilworth	43	$1,899,000	$2,183,942	336
Winnetka	176	$1,499,000	$1,970,967	339
Glencoe	98	$1,099,450	$1,813,779	259
Highland Park	345	$679,000	$1,027,431	287
Lake Forest	316	$1,250,000	$1,911,778	320
North Shore	1802	$799,000	$1,236,879	288

* Detached single family houses (Source: MRED)

Tags: Glencoe, Glenview, Kenilworth, Lake Forest, North Shore market data, North Shore real estate trends, Northfield, Real estate, Wilmette, Winnetka

Winnetka- Home of the First Jungle Gym

Here’s a little known bit of North Shore trivia: the first-ever Jungle Gym, constructed in 1920, is still being enjoyed by children at Crow Island School on Willow Road in Winnetka.  It was invented and patented by lawyer and Winnetka resident Sebastian Hinton. Apparently Hinton’s father, a mathematician, had built a three-dimensional bamboo frame in their backyard in Japan in order to teach his children about Cartesian-coordinates. But Sebastian and his siblings thought it was just a toy where they could climb and swing like monkeys. As an adult he saw that it could be a fun and space-efficient way to encourage physical development in children and he proposed it to Winnetka school superintendent, Carleton Washburne.

The first prototype was placed at North Shore Country Day School. While it was a big hit with the kids, it also had some design flaws, which needed correcting. A sturdier version was installed at Horace Mann School (where the Post Office now stands).  When the school was demolished in 1940, the apparatus was then moved to Crow Island School, where it still sits on the southeast corner of the school’s playground.

Tags: Crow Island School, North Shore history, Winnetka

November North Shore Market Update

North Shore real estate trends are currently a good news, bad news story.
The market is definitely inching towards a recovery, here as well as most
other markets, although the North Shore has benefited less from the first
time buyer tax credit than lower-priced markets. Sales on the North Shore
were up 21% in the latest two month period versus year ago, so reluctant
buyers are getting off the fence and things are moving again.  The not so
good news is that prices are down 7% and average time on market has
increased by 14% to 201 days. But that’s an average. Some properties are
selling quickly- those are the ones that are priced right from the
beginning, and buyers perceive a good value.

September-October 2009 vs. Year Ago*

Town	Units Sold % Change	Avg. Price % Change	Days on Mkt% Change
Evanston	+15%	-33%	+58%
Wilmette	-	-7%	-35%
Glenview	+22%	-12%	+51%
Northfield	+40%	-16%	+20%
Winnetka	-4%	-7%	+16%
Glencoe	+79%	-12%	-5%
Highland Park	+11%	-6%	-27%
Lake Forest	+119%	-3%	+12%
North Shore	+21%	-7%	+14%

* Single family homes (Source: MRED)



Tags: Evanston, Glencoe, North Shore market data, North Shore real estate trends, North Shore sales trends, Wilmette, Winnetka