Chicago no longer affordable

Just know seeing the summer rent hikes hit and it’s absolutely insane. 2000+ for a decent studio, 2500+ for a decent 1 bed. Whole of appeal of Chicago is sort of gone as pay hasn’t kept up with this housing inflation.

46 Comments
 

In what sense?

In the sense that it is entirely relative. Literally anything "affordable" to one person is "too expensive" to another.

Is $2,500 expensive for a 1 bedroom in Chicago? Is $5 expensive for a dozen eggs? Opinions will inevitably be mixed. 

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 
[Comment removed by mod team]
 

This is such a real estate douchebag answer lol. Cal me bitter or jaded or whatever, but people are so fed up with everything real estate related. Landlords jacking prices to obscene levels, brokers charging stupid af fees for doing nothing, property companies rationing inventory to create demand - I swear they are all as slimey as they come. Everyone I know is paying a considerable amount more in rent as a % of take home pay than they did pre-covid.

 
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This is such a real estate douchebag answer lol. Cal me bitter or jaded or whatever, but people are so fed up with everything real estate related. Landlords jacking prices to obscene levels, brokers charging stupid af fees for doing nothing, property companies rationing inventory to create demand - I swear they are all as slimey as they come. Everyone I know is paying a considerable amount more in rent as a % of take home pay than they did pre-covid.

An investment banker taking a moral high horse against real estate, while failing in every way to understand how the rental market works, is pretty fucking comical. 

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Damn, that sucks. Almost nothing "decent" is "affordable" anymore. The 4b2ba apartment (student housing) I will be living in next schoolyear is 8,000 a month. Los Angeles.

 

OP is incorrect. Chicago is widely recognized as still having a great housing market. Housing prices are up 18% nationwide, and 6% in Chicago. Best city in the US to live in right now.

 

When you annualized rent growth from 2019-2022, the rate is 3-4%. The 30% bump is to get rents back to a precovid level after rent tank 20-25% in 2020. Same goes for the stock market index/everything else - as in the individual annualized rate of growth is consistent with their respective historical trends.

When comparing Chicago cost of living vs metro area median HHI, there is clear evidence that this metro is still one of the best/most affordable top 10 metro in the country. You're not going to even have a shot at living in 1BR in a luxury building in NY/SF/Bos/LA paying less than $3000/mo. In Chicago, you just may...

And yes - I'm the multi landlord for that apartment you can't afford 

 

I live in a pretty dope 1BR in Lakeview for $1,700. I'll admit my place is a bit of a "steal" (LL didn't raise rents for the last 2 years) but there's definitely affordable places if you look outside of the Loop, Old Town, River North, and Lincoln Park.

Lakeview, Uptown, Roscoe Village, parts of Wicker, Logan, Bucktown are pretty affordable.

 

You are so obviously looking at the wrong places. It is easy to find a very nice single bed for sub 2200 in great neighborhoods. If you are even moderately ok at critical thinking, you should be able to find sub 2k studios or converts in the loop, river north, Gold Coast, or old town, areas, let alone picking places farther from the loop.

If you live with someone, you should easily be able to find something from 1700-1850, and if crafty a place from 1500-1700. 
 

Have you tried googling?

 
  1. Sub 2k for a studio is appalling for a market that is supposed to afford a good CoL, anything >1700 for a studio is stupid especially in the new high rises where a studio is =400 SF and north of 2K
  1. Any studio that’s renovated, not a shit box, and close to amenities like a gym or grocery store in those neighborhoods will run you 1800 to 2200+ this summer
  1. I’m adult I’m not living with roommates
  1. I’m not going to live in bumfuck nowhere wicker park or wrigley like a college clod fresh out of school

All these points are too demonstrate this is no longer an attractive CoL city due to the current rent increases happening this summer.

 

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