Chicago’s Top Growing Cities

Do you want to know how much your city’s population has changed in the 10 year period between 2000 and 2010? Chicago Real Estate Forum recently published an infographic showing the population growth for some of Chicago’s top cities according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

”An infographic is a great tool to take a large amount of data and put it into a graphic image that you can actually understand. Anyone can easily look at this infographic and discern how Chicago's population has grown over the past 10 years,” said Mitch Levinson, publisher of Chicago Real Estate Forum and managing partner of mRELEVANCE.

According to the data, the cities that grew the most between 2000 and 2010 are Aurora, Joliet, Plainfield, Homer Glen and Huntley. Aurora grew by more than 54,000 residents in the 10 year period, while Joliet grew by more than 41,000 people. Plainfield and Homer Glen both saw an increase of more than 24,000 residents, and Huntley grew by almost 19,000 residents. Other large cities with a high rate of population growth included Elgin, Naperville, Waukegan, Evanston and Bolingbrook.

Overall, Chicago saw a massive population increase in the Southwest suburbs and a relative decrease in the near Northwest.

The infographic was designed by Marketing RELEVANCE, a marketing, communication and interactive agency with offices in both Chicago and Atlanta.

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Chicago Homes Selling at a Faster Rate

 

Some good news for Chicago homeowners who will soon put their house up for sale on the Chicago real estate market. A recent study by the National Association of Realtors reported that the time it takes to a sell a home is now decreasing.

In July 2012, the median time it took for a home to sell was 69 days. One-third of homes that were purchased in July were sold in less than a month, while one in five took at least six months to sell.

The reason for shorter selling times? Home inventory has decreased, and this means there is more of an equal balance between homebuyers and home sellers. It is also important to note that homes priced at a reasonable market rate will sell more quickly than homes listed higher than the market average.

Homes began selling faster last spring and continued to sell at a solid rate throughout the summer.  Around this time in 2011 homes were taking 98 days to sell, so this year’s numbers are quite an improvement.

During the housing boom of 2004 and 2005, it took about four weeks to sell a home. In comparison, homes took about 10 weeks to sell during the economic downturn of 2009.

Some homeowners are still afraid to put their homes on the market because they are concerned that prices may decline again. Others aren't selling their homes because they are underwater on their mortgage.

However homeowners will be pleased to learn that this positive trend in home selling is expected to continue, and that home prices have risen in recent months.