4 hot topics in Chicago real estate right now
One of the most amazing and equally frustrating parts of real estate is that the market changes constantly. What is true today, may be obsolete tomorrow! Today I am sharing four hot topics for the Chicagoland real estate market, and what they could potentially mean for you.
Downtown high rise interest is returning
Before the pandemic neighborhoods like West Loop and Gold Coast were some of the most competitive. When the pandemic struck, interest in downtown high rises quickly and drastically tapered off. And while the rest of the real estate market rebounded quickly, high rises have been one of the last parts of the market to come back – but recently we’ve started to see some uptick in interest!
In addition to much of life returning back to normal, I believe this trend is also due in part to buyers frustrated with the competition in Chicagoland suburbs and other popular cities (Nashville, Denver, Austin, etc), and picking downtown Chicago as their next best option.
“The Bring Chicago Home Campaign” or “Mansion Tax”
Currently, Chicagoland buyers pay a one-time $7500 transfer tax per million in purchase price. This new proposal would more than triple that tax to $26,500 per million. The amounts sellers pay in transfer tax ($3,000) would not change under the proposal. In the past 12 months, approximately 5.4% of homes sold in Chicagoland were more than $1 million. Funds from the tax would go toward funding efforts around combatting homelessness. Both sides of this proposal are strongly convicted one way or the other, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Airbnb crack downs
Are you thinking about a second home or investment property? Wherever you are considering, it pays to do your research around the local/county-level feelings around Airbnb. For example, in New Buffalo, MI, a popular vacation destination for Chicagoans, short-term rentals have been banned since May 2020. Traverse City and Mackinaw City limit short-term rentals to specific areas. Other popular destinations like Union Pier remain friendly to the short-term rental scene. If you are considering a home in Michigan, keep in mind that Busby Group team member, Mara Walsh, is licensed there! Also a note that at this point most condo buildings in downtown Chicago do not allow short-term rentals either.
Increasing interest rates
By this point we’ve all heard rumblings about the uncertainty of the nation’s economic future, at least in the short-term. Some experts are saying rates may reach 7% in the not so distant future. I recently wrote a whole blog post on this issue that you can read here. The overall takeaway is that, yes, interest rates have buyers and sellers talking, but there are also strategies you can use that can make a real difference.
