Chicago home prices are growing nicely but stilllag the rest of the country by a lot

Homes are currently a better investment than the stock market. At least that’s the way it still looks based on this morning’s S&P Dow Jones CoreLogic release of the May Case Shiller home price indices for the nation, including the Chicago area. The nation’s home prices advanced 19.7% for the 12 month period. Although that’s down slightly from April’s 20.6% that’s still very high considering that mortgage rates were already on the way up during that 3 month period for which the data is averaged. Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI, is still saying that higher mortgage rates will surely kill the party at some point. Maybe he’s right but we’re not seeing it yet.

Home prices in the Chicago area were up 12.9% for the same period, which is about where it was the last two times the data was released. Again we are towards the bottom of the ranking of the 20 largest metro areas – third from the bottom this time. But at least we’ve had 13 consecutive months of double digit price increases.

Interestingly, condo price appreciation is actually accelerating after lagging single family home appreciation for about 3 years. Well, it’s still lagging but May was the 7th month in a row with higher year over year appreciation – 7.3%. That’s also the highest rate in almost 8 years. You can see what’s going on in the graph below.

Case Shiller Chicago Area Home Price Index By Month

The graph below shows the Chicago Case Shiller numbers for both single family homes and condos going back to 1987. You can clearly see how single family home prices really started to take off in late 2020 with condo prices just now taking off. Single family homes rose 1.8% in May from April while condo prices were up 1.7%.

I also added a red single family trend line based on the pre-bubble values that we had been falling further behind from until the recent price surge when that gap started to close. Currently we are 15.9% below that line.

Single family home prices have risen 79.5% from their bottom while condo prices have risen 73.1%. Both indices have finally surpassed their bubble peak with single family homes exceeding it by 9.4% and condos exceeding it by 4.6%

#ChicagoHomePrices #CaseShiller #HomePrices

Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.

I’m sure at one time or another we have all wondered what it would be like to travel into the past or future to see what the world would look like.  Prime Video has taken Brian K. Vaughan’s graphic novel, PAPER GIRLS, and created the series.

The year is 1988 in the early hours of the morning after Halloween. Four paper girls from very different backgrounds are delivering papers get caught up in the crossfire between warring time-travelers and are transported to 2021. In a nutshell, they have to figure out how to get back to 1988.  Throughout their journey traveling from year to year, they end up meeting their future selves who try to help them get back to the past.

Riley Lai Nelet, Camryn Jones, Sofia Rosinsky, Fina Strazza

Actors Camryn Jones (Tiffany Quilkin), Riley Lai Nelet (Erin Tieng), Sofia Rosinsky (Mac Coyle), and Fina Strazza (KJ Brandman) play the four paper girls in the series.  All four of them bring something different to their characters which makes them so interesting. 

I spoke with three of the four of them recently. Camryn Jones, Riley Lai Nelet, and Fina Strazza.  One of the really interesting parts for me in the film was when each girl met their future, not just themselves but what happened to them in the future.  This brought up the question of whether they would like to meet their real future selves.  The answers was mixed. Camryn said, “I would say yes. I love spoilers. I always skip to the last page of a book when I read it. I would say yeah, because I’m just curious about how I would end up, and then I could change it if I didn’t like the outcome.”  Riley and Fina both said no. They want to live in the moment.  Me, I wouldn’t mind going back to 1979, but that’s a conversation for another time.

Also starring in the series is one of my favorite actresses, Adina Porter who plays Prioress, one of the bad guys.  This role has a look and stature that is dominate and very scary. However, she when her vulnerability sneaks through you feel for her character. She is amazing because she creates layers. I asked the ladies what it was like working with her.  The conversation went like this,

Adina Porter as Prioress

Fina Strazza: “Prioress is incredibly intimidating and scary, and Adina is definitely not that. She’s the sweetest ever.”

Camryn Jones: “She is so nice.”

Riley Lai Nelet: “I think both of them also have this sense of grace towards them, this gracefulness.”

Fina Strazza: “For sure. The first time we worked with Adina, we were not told she would be on set with us. We were doing our scene, and she just popped up and showed up. We were all like, “Oh my god.” And she looks very scary.”

Camryn Jones: “That was a fun day. It was a funny day. Yeah, she was awesome, because we were all scared.”

Fina Strazza: “We were all huddled together. She’s fantastic. Audiences are going to love her.”

PAPER GIRLS will begin streaming on Amazon Prime Video on July 29th.  At first, it was a bit confusing but as it gets into the episodes and you get to know the girls and understand what they are fighting against, you will be hooked.

Check out the trailer below.

I give it 3 winks out of 4 of the EYE!

Until next time, keep your eye to the sky!

My summer just got better, thanks to Revolution Brewing. It isn’t easy to find my favored style, big stouts, during the warm months. Revolution’s Deep Wood Series kicked off on July 21st, featuring three impressive beers – Thundertaker, Lumberstruck, and Coconut Deth.

Thundertaker is an Imperial Rye Stout. This beer is a collab with Binny’s, using their premium bourbon barrels. Coconut Deth is an Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels with coconut. Lumberstuck is a Black English Barleywine and is my favorite because I love a great Barleywine.

I decided to start with a preview party the night before the release to get in as many drafts as possible. I have to thank Revolution Brewing for introducing me to one of the most excellent bars in the city, as I have never been to the Green Lady. I was served by none other than the “green lady” herself. The bar is decorated with beer tap handles, making for great photo ops (if only I thought of that at the time).

On release day, I hit Binny’s in Lakeview at 9 am sharp to get some Thundertaker 4-packs. I wasn’t sure what to expect since Thundertaker sold out online in minutes. There was a short line outside when I arrived, but no worries, because check-out was a breeze.

I had lunch at Revolution Brewpub and Kitchen, which included a tasty beet and radish dip, along with a draft of Thundertaker. I wandered for a couple of hours photographing street art and headed to the brewery for some variants. It was a tough decision, as I thought two would be enough given the high ABV. After chatting with the bartender, I chose Sanctuary No. 28 and Barrel 6150. YUM!

This Deep Wood Series release was exceptional, as one would expect from Revolution Brewing. I will savor every drop of my packaged products, and I’m already looking forward to the October release.

Chicago home prices are growing nicely but stilllag the rest of the country by a lot

Homes are currently a better investment than the stock market. At least that’s the way it still looks based on this morning’s S&P Dow Jones CoreLogic release of the May Case Shiller home price indices for the nation, including the Chicago area. The nation’s home prices advanced 19.7% for the 12 month period. Although that’s down slightly from April’s 20.6% that’s still very high considering that mortgage rates were already on the way up during that 3 month period for which the data is averaged. Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI, is still saying that higher mortgage rates will surely kill the party at some point. Maybe he’s right but we’re not seeing it yet.

Home prices in the Chicago area were up 12.9% for the same period, which is about where it was the last two times the data was released. Again we are towards the bottom of the ranking of the 20 largest metro areas – third from the bottom this time. But at least we’ve had 13 consecutive months of double digit price increases.

Interestingly, condo price appreciation is actually accelerating after lagging single family home appreciation for about 3 years. Well, it’s still lagging but May was the 7th month in a row with higher year over year appreciation – 7.3%. That’s also the highest rate in almost 8 years. You can see what’s going on in the graph below.

Case Shiller Chicago Area Home Price Index By Month

The graph below shows the Chicago Case Shiller numbers for both single family homes and condos going back to 1987. You can clearly see how single family home prices really started to take off in late 2020 with condo prices just now taking off. Single family homes rose 1.8% in May from April while condo prices were up 1.7%.

I also added a red single family trend line based on the pre-bubble values that we had been falling further behind from until the recent price surge when that gap started to close. Currently we are 15.9% below that line.

Single family home prices have risen 79.5% from their bottom while condo prices have risen 73.1%. Both indices have finally surpassed their bubble peak with single family homes exceeding it by 9.4% and condos exceeding it by 4.6%

#ChicagoHomePrices #CaseShiller #HomePrices

Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.

I’m sure at one time or another we have all wondered what it would be like to travel into the past or future to see what the world would look like.  Prime Video has taken Brian K. Vaughan’s graphic novel, PAPER GIRLS, and created the series.

The year is 1988 in the early hours of the morning after Halloween. Four paper girls from very different backgrounds are delivering papers get caught up in the crossfire between warring time-travelers and are transported to 2021. In a nutshell, they have to figure out how to get back to 1988.  Throughout their journey traveling from year to year, they end up meeting their future selves who try to help them get back to the past.

Riley Lai Nelet, Camryn Jones, Sofia Rosinsky, Fina Strazza

Actors Camryn Jones (Tiffany Quilkin), Riley Lai Nelet (Erin Tieng), Sofia Rosinsky (Mac Coyle), and Fina Strazza (KJ Brandman) play the four paper girls in the series.  All four of them bring something different to their characters which makes them so interesting. 

I spoke with three of the four of them recently. Camryn Jones, Riley Lai Nelet, and Fina Strazza.  One of the really interesting parts for me in the film was when each girl met their future, not just themselves but what happened to them in the future.  This brought up the question of whether they would like to meet their real future selves.  The answers was mixed. Camryn said, “I would say yes. I love spoilers. I always skip to the last page of a book when I read it. I would say yeah, because I’m just curious about how I would end up, and then I could change it if I didn’t like the outcome.”  Riley and Fina both said no. They want to live in the moment.  Me, I wouldn’t mind going back to 1979, but that’s a conversation for another time.

Also starring in the series is one of my favorite actresses, Adina Porter who plays Prioress, one of the bad guys.  This role has a look and stature that is dominate and very scary. However, she when her vulnerability sneaks through you feel for her character. She is amazing because she creates layers. I asked the ladies what it was like working with her.  The conversation went like this,

Adina Porter as Prioress

Fina Strazza: “Prioress is incredibly intimidating and scary, and Adina is definitely not that. She’s the sweetest ever.”

Camryn Jones: “She is so nice.”

Riley Lai Nelet: “I think both of them also have this sense of grace towards them, this gracefulness.”

Fina Strazza: “For sure. The first time we worked with Adina, we were not told she would be on set with us. We were doing our scene, and she just popped up, and showed up. We were all like, “Oh my god.” And she looks very scary.”

Camryn Jones: “That was a fun day. It was a funny day. Yeah, she was awesome, because we were all scared.”

Fina Strazza: “We were all huddled together. She’s fantastic. Audiences are going to love her.”

PAPER GIRLS is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video.  At first, it was a bit confusing but as it gets into the episodes and you get to know the girls and understand what they are fighting against, you will be hooked.

Check out the trailer below.

I give it 3 winks out of 4 of the EYE!

Until next time, keep your eye to the sky!

My summer just got better, thanks to Revolution Brewing. It isn’t easy to find my favored style, big stouts, during the warm months. Revolution’s Deep Wood Series kicked off on July 21st, featuring three impressive beers – Thundertaker, Lumberstruck, and Coconut Deth.

Thundertaker is an Imperial Rye Stout. This beer is a collab with Binny’s, using their premium bourbon barrels. Coconut Deth is an Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels with coconut. Lumberstuck is a Black English Barleywine and is my favorite because I love a great Barleywine.

I decided to start with a preview party the night before the release to get in as many drafts as possible. I have to thank Revolution Brewing for introducing me to one of the most excellent bars in the city, as I have never been to the Green Lady. I was served by none other than the “green lady” herself. The bar is decorated with beer tap handles, making for great photo ops (if only I thought of that at the time).

On release day, I hit Binny’s in Lakeview at 9 am sharp to get some Thundertaker 4-packs. I wasn’t sure what to expect since Thundertaker sold out online in minutes. There was a short line outside when I arrived, but no worries, because check-out was a breeze.

I had lunch at Revolution Brewpub and Kitchen, which included a tasty beet and radish dip, along with a draft of Thundertaker. I wandered for a couple of hours photographing street art and headed to the brewery for some variants. It was a tough decision, as I thought two would be enough given the high ABV. After chatting with the bartender, I chose Sanctuary No. 28 and Barrel 6150. YUM!

This Deep Wood Series release was exceptional, as one would expect from Revolution Brewing. I will savor every drop of my packaged products, and I’m already looking forward to the October release.

Chicago home prices are growing nicely but stilllag the rest of the country by a lot

Homes are currently a better investment than the stock market. At least that’s the way it still looks based on this morning’s S&P Dow Jones CoreLogic release of the May Case Shiller home price indices for the nation, including the Chicago area. The nation’s home prices advanced 19.7% for the 12 month period. Although that’s down slightly from April’s 20.6% that’s still very high considering that mortgage rates were already on the way up during that 3 month period for which the data is averaged. Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI, is still saying that higher mortgage rates will surely kill the party at some point. Maybe he’s right but we’re not seeing it yet.

Home prices in the Chicago area were up 12.9% for the same period, which is about where it was the last two times the data was released. Again we are towards the bottom of the ranking of the 20 largest metro areas – third from the bottom this time. But at least we’ve had 13 consecutive months of double digit price increases.

Interestingly, condo price appreciation is actually accelerating after lagging single family home appreciation for about 3 years. Well, it’s still lagging but May was the 7th month in a row with higher year over year appreciation – 7.3%. That’s also the highest rate in almost 8 years. You can see what’s going on in the graph below.

Case Shiller Chicago Area Home Price Index By Month

The graph below shows the Chicago Case Shiller numbers for both single family homes and condos going back to 1987. You can clearly see how single family home prices really started to take off in late 2020 with condo prices just now taking off. Single family homes rose 1.8% in May from April while condo prices were up 1.7%.

I also added a red single family trend line based on the pre-bubble values that we had been falling further behind from until the recent price surge when that gap started to close. Currently we are 15.9% below that line.

Single family home prices have risen 79.5% from their bottom while condo prices have risen 73.1%. Both indices have finally surpassed their bubble peak with single family homes exceeding it by 9.4% and condos exceeding it by 4.6%

#ChicagoHomePrices #CaseShiller #HomePrices

Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.

I’m sure at one time or another we have all wondered what it would be like to travel into the past or future to see what the world would look like.  Prime Video has taken Brian K. Vaughan’s graphic novel, PAPER GIRLS, and created the series.

The year is 1988 in the early hours of the morning after Halloween. Four paper girls from very different backgrounds are delivering papers get caught up in the crossfire between warring time-travelers and are transported to 2021. In a nutshell, they have to figure out how to get back to 1988.  Throughout their journey traveling from year to year, they end up meeting their future selves who try to help them get back to the past.

Riley Lai Nelet, Camryn Jones, Sofia Rosinsky, Fina Strazza

Actors Camryn Jones (Tiffany Quilkin), Riley Lai Nelet (Erin Tieng), Sofia Rosinsky (Mac Coyle), and Fina Strazza (KJ Brandman) play the four paper girls in the series.  All four of them bring something different to their characters which makes them so interesting. 

I spoke with three of the four of them recently. Camryn Jones, Riley Lai Nelet, and Fina Strazza.  One of the really interesting parts for me in the film was when each girl met their future, not just themselves but what happened to them in the future.  This brought up the question of whether they would like to meet their real future selves.  The answers was mixed. Camryn said, “I would say yes. I love spoilers. I always skip to the last page of a book when I read it. I would say yeah, because I’m just curious about how I would end up, and then I could change it if I didn’t like the outcome.”  Riley and Fina both said no. They want to live in the moment.  Me, I wouldn’t mind going back to 1979, but that’s a conversation for another time.

Also starring in the series is one of my favorite actresses, Adina Porter who plays Prioress, one of the bad guys.  This role has a look and stature that is dominate and very scary. However, she when her vulnerability sneaks through you feel for her character. She is amazing because she creates layers. I asked the ladies what it was like working with her.  The conversation went like this,

Adina Porter as Prioress

Fina Strazza: “Prioress is incredibly intimidating and scary, and Adina is definitely not that. She’s the sweetest ever.”

Camryn Jones: “She is so nice.”

Riley Lai Nelet: “I think both of them also have this sense of grace towards them, this gracefulness.”

Fina Strazza: “For sure. The first time we worked with Adina, we were not told she would be on set with us. We were doing our scene, and she just popped up, and showed up. We were all like, “Oh my god.” And she looks very scary.”

Camryn Jones: “That was a fun day. It was a funny day. Yeah, she was awesome, because we were all scared.”

Fina Strazza: “We were all huddled together. She’s fantastic. Audiences are going to love her.”

PAPER GIRLS is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video.  At first, it was a bit confusing but as it gets into the episodes and you get to know the girls and understand what they are fighting against, you will be hooked.

Check out the trailer below.

I give it 3 winks out of 4 of the EYE!

Until next time, keep your eye to the sky!

My summer just got better, thanks to Revolution Brewing. It isn’t easy to find my favored style, big stouts, during the warm months. Revolution’s Deep Wood Series kicked off on July 21st, featuring three impressive beers – Thundertaker, Lumberstruck, and Coconut Deth.

Thundertaker is an Imperial Rye Stout. This beer is a collab with Binny’s, using their premium bourbon barrels. Coconut Deth is an Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels with coconut. Lumberstuck is a Black English Barleywine and is my favorite because I love a great Barleywine.

I decided to start with a preview party the night before the release to get in as many drafts as possible. I have to thank Revolution Brewing for introducing me to one of the most excellent bars in the city, as I have never been to the Green Lady. I was served by none other than the “green lady” herself. The bar is decorated with beer tap handles, making for great photo ops (if only I thought of that at the time).

On release day, I hit Binny’s in Lakeview at 9 am sharp to get some Thundertaker 4-packs. I wasn’t sure what to expect since Thundertaker sold out online in minutes. There was a short line outside when I arrived, but no worries, because check-out was a breeze.

I had lunch at Revolution Brewpub and Kitchen, which included a tasty beet and radish dip, along with a draft of Thundertaker. I wandered for a couple of hours photographing street art and headed to the brewery for some variants. It was a tough decision, as I thought two would be enough given the high ABV. After chatting with the bartender, I chose Sanctuary No. 28 and Barrel 6150. YUM!

This Deep Wood Series release was exceptional, as one would expect from Revolution Brewing. I will savor every drop of my packaged products, and I’m already looking forward to the October release.

Chicago home prices are growing nicely but stilllag the rest of the country by a lot

Homes are currently a better investment than the stock market. At least that’s the way it still looks based on this morning’s S&P Dow Jones CoreLogic release of the May Case Shiller home price indices for the nation, including the Chicago area. The nation’s home prices advanced 19.7% for the 12 month period. Although that’s down slightly from April’s 20.6% that’s still very high considering that mortgage rates were already on the way up during that 3 month period for which the data is averaged. Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI, is still saying that higher mortgage rates will surely kill the party at some point. Maybe he’s right but we’re not seeing it yet.

Home prices in the Chicago area were up 12.9% for the same period, which is about where it was the last two times the data was released. Again we are towards the bottom of the ranking of the 20 largest metro areas – third from the bottom this time. But at least we’ve had 13 consecutive months of double digit price increases.

Interestingly, condo price appreciation is actually accelerating after lagging single family home appreciation for about 3 years. Well, it’s still lagging but May was the 7th month in a row with higher year over year appreciation – 7.3%. That’s also the highest rate in almost 8 years. You can see what’s going on in the graph below.

Case Shiller Chicago Area Home Price Index By Month

The graph below shows the Chicago Case Shiller numbers for both single family homes and condos going back to 1987. You can clearly see how single family home prices really started to take off in late 2020 with condo prices just now taking off. Single family homes rose 1.8% in May from April while condo prices were up 1.7%.

I also added a red single family trend line based on the pre-bubble values that we had been falling further behind from until the recent price surge when that gap started to close. Currently we are 15.9% below that line.

Single family home prices have risen 79.5% from their bottom while condo prices have risen 73.1%. Both indices have finally surpassed their bubble peak with single family homes exceeding it by 9.4% and condos exceeding it by 4.6%

#ChicagoHomePrices #CaseShiller #HomePrices

Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.