How we measure
The rules are fixed before the numbers are computed. When a building doesn't meet them, the page leaves the figure blank and says why.
Which buildings
Condominium and co-op buildings of 7 or more stories. Neighborhood boundaries follow official street centerlines (Clark Street for Lincoln Park, Broadway for Lakeview East; Near North is the whole Near North Side community area) and Cook County community areas, so no building belongs to two neighborhoods. Membership is decided from parcel records, MLS records and unit floor numbers; buildings whose height or boundary is still uncertain are left out until verified.
Which records
Closed sales and leases from the MLS (Midwest Real Estate Data), matched to buildings by parcel number and address. Short sales, foreclosures and court-approved sales are excluded from prices. Combined units and units of unusual size are excluded where they would distort a median.
What a figure means
- Medians, not averages, over the stated period (usually the last 24 months).
- 90% range: a bootstrap interval. Wide ranges mean the median could easily move with a few more sales.
- Sample size is shown with every figure.
- Time to contract (sales): calendar days from the day the unit was first listed to the day the sale went under contract. If the same unit was listed, taken off the market and listed again, the clock starts at the first listing, so a relisting does not reset it. Sales that closed in the period.
- Time to lease (leases): days from the rental listing date to the lease date (the contract date, or the day the listing left the market when no contract date is recorded), leases in the period. A relisted rental starts a new count.
- Price index: same-building price per sq ft by quarter, adjusted for which buildings sold. Marked preliminary for now.
- Yields: median rent against median price by unit size, minus HOA dues and property tax. They leave out vacancy, repairs, insurance and financing.
Minimum samples
| Figure | Minimum |
|---|---|
| A building median (price, rent, dues, days) | 8 records |
| Rates such as turnover | 8 events |
| Floor premium | 12 sales in at least 3 unit lines |
What we don't publish
Individual sales or listings, agent or owner information, and anything from broker-only remarks. Building-specific risk questions (assessments, litigation, projects) are discussed one-on-one, not posted.
Corrections
Every page carries the data run it was built from. When a method changes, earlier figures are kept and the differences are documented rather than silently replaced.