Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila
Yeah, there is certainly a market for condos in Chicago, but it's heavily middle-class and driven by people looking for an actual place to live. A Chicago condo is not a great investment compared to an SFH in Chicago or a condo in a coastal city - not much appreciation. It's just a way for middle-class people to get some stability while remaining in the city.
Note that the West Coast also doesn't have much condo development, due to builder liability laws. Developers just aren't interested in that kind of headache.
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Quite a number of more recently built $1M+ condos in Chicago in 2-4 story buildings, so I'm not sure I quite agree with that sentiment currently for outside of downtown (as someone who bought in that range and toured many of these before buying). I believe they're more popular now due to the fact that they actually do appreciate in value and sell easier a lot more than the ones in larger buildings. Also the HOAs are smaller meaning that once you pay off your mortgage (if you have one), the amount of money per month you pay is much less than in a high rise. It's literally the reason we switched from planning to buy in a high rise downtown to a neighborhood, in a low rise.
Something like this is a prime example of upper end condos just built in the last year and selling fine:
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/15...home/179432690
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/18...home/182991105
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/26...home/180525412
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/17...home/182101739
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/13...home/180004038
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/15...home/145284720
But I do think that Chicago is more like LA in terms of the upper market in that a lot of people just go for SFH instead. I think that in Manhattan itself, you'd see a lot more of this if it existed but the number of townhomes for sale is ultimately pretty small and many go to a high rise. Some definitely want a high rise more than a townhome, but you'd be surprised at the number of people who would take a 3 or 4 story townhome over a high rise there if they could there. In Chicago though, there's an increasing number of low rise condos that are $1.5M+ that are selling without an issue. I think that will increase too.