BUCKTOWN — Three $1 million condos snapped up within one day of hitting the market and a 7,800-square-foot home that's been on and off the market since 2010 are among the latest Bucktown and Wicker Park real estate transactions.
According to Realtor Eva Bergant's blog, there were 84 homes sold in a five-week period from Sept. 29 to Nov. 6. Twenty of the sales were single-family homes, 60 were condos and four were multi-unit buildings.
"[Interest] rates are still great, with not an abundance of inventory at this point," Bergant said.
Currently there are 34 single-family homes available for sale in Wicker Park and Bucktown, 116 condos and 24 multi-unit buildings. Bergant said the average market time for single-family homes and condos was 69 days in October, as compared to 134 days last October.
"Market time has shrunk, so it's great for sellers because they don't have to keep their house clean forever" to show it, which is "hard on buyers," Bergant said.
And buyers continue to move quickly, as was the case when existing residents of Bucktown and River North got first dibs on three new condos inside a new white brick and reflective glass four-story building towering over the northwest corner of Shakespeare and Damen at 2138 N. Damen Ave. in Bucktown.
Realtor Melissa Govedarica called the new development — which offers garage parking, radiant heat and private elevator access — "a statement building that merits million dollar boutique style condos."
Govederica said the buyers, who purchased their three-bedrooms condos at either $1.1 million or $1.050 million within one day of being on the market, were seeking to live in a high-end luxury condo rather than a single-family home.
Elsewhere in Bucktown, a five-bedroom, six-bathroom single-family home at 1744 W. Cortland Ave. sold as a short sale for $2,900,000 on Nov. 1. The 7,800 square-foot mansion was on the market for 486 days and sold at 97 percent of its list price.
Owned by former A.J. Kearney partner Sherif Mityas, who pled guilty to insider trading and was sentenced to three years of probation in May 2012, the home was designed by architect Nicholas Clark and initially listed at $4.9 million in 2010.
The home went of the market for nine months before coming back at $3.6 million and eventually being reduced to $2,999,900, Bergant said.
Barb Steinhauser, from Realtor Jennifer Ames' Coldwell Banker Residential team, represented the buyers of the luxury home, whom Steinhauser described as a young couple who were most recently living in a "bachelor pad penthouse" on the 2100 block of W. Division St. in Wicker Park.
Steinhauser said the home's swimming pool and big double lot appealed to the couple.
In other highlights, multi-unit buildings experienced a surge in inventory during the recent five-week period, with 24 multi-unit apartment buildings or duplexes currently on the market.
Realtor Marna Spizz helped a client buy a two-unit vintage duplex at 2035 W. Dickens Ave. in Bucktown, which sold for $667,500 on Oct. 16.
Spizz said the new owner plans to live in the upstairs unit and rent out an apartment on the first floor.
"The appeal is basically a free standing building with rental income to offset the mortgage payment," Spizz said.
Other sale highlights:
A two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo at 1314 N Wicker Park Ave. in Wicker Park sold for $50,000 on Oct. 4. The home was sold as a foreclosure after being on the market for 65 days and selling at 21 percent of its list price.
A two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo at 2157 W Potomac St. in Wicker Park sold for $425,000 on Oct. 1. The home — in a brick and limestone corner building with garage parking — was on the market for 4 days and sold at 104 percent of its list price.
A four-bedroom, three-bathroom 1880s-era single-family home at 1959 W. Evergreen St. in Wicker Park sold for $2,103,750 on Sept. 30. The home was on the market for 56 days and sold at 90 percent of its list price.
A four-bedroom, three-bathroom single-family home at 2146 W. Charleston St. in Bucktown sold for $1,125,000 on Oct. 31. The home was on the market for 1 day and sold at 100 percent of its list price.
A four-bedroom, three-bathroom single-family home at 1823 N. Wolcott Ave. in Bucktown sold for $1,250,000 on Oct. 7. The home was on the market for 127 days and sold at 96 percent of its list price.
A four-bedroom, three-bathroom single-family home at 1610 N. Honore St. in Wicker Park sold for $1,525,000 on Oct. 28. Billed as Chicago's first U.S. Green Building Council LEED Platinum home, the home uses solar power and was on the market for 55 days before selling at 96 percent of its list price.
