According to the Case Shiller home price index released today, single family home prices in the Chicago area rose by 2.5% in June, while condominium prices rose by 1.6%. The graph below shows the long term history of these two indices along with a trendline (in red).
As you can see from the graph, we’ve already had a double dip in home prices in Chicago but we may even be headed for a triple dip. The Case Shiller index is based upon a 3 month average of home sales so these numbers still reflect the home sales surge spurred by the homebuyer tax credit. Since the tax credit expired activity has plummeted and about 40% of recent sales are either short sales or foreclosures. When the Case Shiller index starts to reflect those sales prices should come down again.
Single family home prices have now dropped a total of 25.9% from their peak level in September 2006 and 0.1% in just the last year. This puts single family prices back to the level of October 2002. Condominium prices have now dropped a total of 19.1% from their peak level in September 2007 and 4.0% in the last year, bringing them back to April 2003 levels.