Market Conditions: Is Chicago the Hottest Market in America in 2026?
I’m having a hard time finding properties to crib about because the inventory remains at a record low and when something new does come on the market, it is often selling within days.
Crain’s Dennis Rodkin covered Chicago’s red hot market this week:
Within 48 hours of going up for sale last weekend, a two-bedroom condo on Cleveland Avenue in Lincoln Park received a dozen offers and went under contract.
“This market is wilder than ever,” said Shay Hata, the @properties Christie’s International Real Estate agent who represented the two-bedroom condo in the handsome 1920s building seen at the top of this story. The deal has not closed, and because the contract is contingent there’s a chance it won’t, but the flurry of offers suggests the condo will go for more than its $450,000 asking price.
This Lincoln Park condo was at the lower price point. But according to the article, homes listed over $1 million are also going under contract quickly in the city and suburbs.
“It’s kind of insane right now,” said Kim Brychel, an agent who’s also with @properties Christie’s. Her clients’ five-bedroom house on Leavitt Street in Lincoln Square hit the market at just under $1.7 million and was under contract six days later. The insanity, Brychel said, “is very stressful for buyers,” who have to jump like Jordan in order to score a purchase.
The article also had one agent commenting that some buyers are bringing Mom and Dad with them to the showings and that they are getting help on the down payment from their parents.
Is Chicago the hottest housing market in America in 2026?
Chicago homes fly off the market as ‘wild’ 2026 season gets underway [Crain’s Chicago Business, by Dennis Rodkin, February 19, 2026]









