North Center By The Numbers: Prices, Buyers, Permits

Of the 3,238 two-to-six-flats on North Center’s tax rolls in 2006, 918 are now classed as single-family houses, more than in any other Chicago community area and 28 percent of the 2006 count, also the highest share. The rolls show 2,225 two-to-six-flats in 2026, 31 percent fewer than in 2006. North Center’s median house sold for $1,622,500 in 2025, the highest of the 72 community areas with 20 or more house sales.

Drawn from our analyses of county and city records · sales file as updated September 15, 2026 · assembled October 1, 2026

North Center in the recordsfigure

Median house sale, 2025$980,000 in 2019. 168 sales in 2025.$1.6M
Median two-to-six-flat sale, 2025$640,000 in 2019. 67 sales in 2025.$900K
Median condominium sale, 2025$437,500 in 2019. 223 sales in 2025.$550K
Market signals activeOf five.0 of 5
Homes bought by companies, 2024–257.7 percent in 2018–19.12.7%
Bought 2018–22 and resold within two years176 of 3,261 purchases.5.4%
Assessor valuation as a share of sale price235 sales in 2025. 82 percent with resales set aside.81%
Two-to-six-flats on the tax rolls, 20263,238 in 2006.2,225

What homes sold for

The county recorded sales of 168 houses, 67 two-to-six-flats and 223 condominiums in North Center in 2025. The median house sold for $980,000 in 2019 and $1,622,500 in 2025, up 66 percent, 20th among the 70 community areas with 20 or more house sales in both years. Citywide the median house went from $230,000 to $320,000, up 39 percent. The median two-to-six-flat went from $640,000 to $900,000, up 41 percent, 38th among the 46 community areas with 20 or more two-to-six-flat sales in both years; citywide the rise was 62 percent. The median condominium went from $437,500 to $550,000, up 26 percent, 27th among the 37 community areas with 20 or more condominium sales in both years; citywide the rise was 26 percent.

Every area and year, and the rules for which sales are counted: What a Chicago Home Actually Sold For: 245,849 Deeds Since 2018, All 77 Community Areas

None of the five market signals is active

Our gentrification-signals analysis checks five records in every community area for unusually fast change between 2018–19 and 2024–25: house prices, two-to-six-flat prices, the share of homes bought by companies, new-construction permits and new business licenses. In North Center, none of the five is active. Of the 67 areas scored, three show four signals and 40 show none. A signal is a measurement of change between two periods. It does not describe the people who live in an area or say what happens next.

The five signals in North Centeractive

House pricesCounts only where the 2019 median house price was below the citywide $230,000. Here it was $980,000.no
Two-to-six-flat pricesThe median two-to-six-flat price was 1.41 times its 2019 level in 2025. The bar is 1.78 times.no
Company buyersCompanies bought 7.7 percent of homes sold in 2018–19 and 12.7 percent in 2024–25, up a little under five points on the exact counts. The bar is a rise of five points.no
New-construction permitsPermits numbered 148 in 2018–19 and 142 in 2024–25. The bar is 1.5 times the earlier count, with at least eight in the later period.no
New business licensesFirst-time licenses numbered 122 in 2019 and 87 in 2025, down 29 percent. The bar is 15 percent growth, with at least 30 in 2025.no

None of the five signals is active. The median house rose 66 percent from $980,000 in 2019, but the price signal looks for a fast rise from a median below the citywide figure, and North Center’s 2019 median was more than four times it. Companies bought 7.7 percent of homes sold in 2018–19 and 12.7 percent in 2024–25, a little short of the five-point bar on the exact counts, and first-time business licenses fell from 122 to 87. Our reading: the change North Center’s records show is in its buildings. Of the 918 flats now classed as houses, 894 kept their parcel number and changed class. If the class follows the building, each of those went from two to six homes to one, which would leave those 894 parcels with at least 894 fewer homes than they had as flats. The tax rolls do not count homes, so that figure is our inference from the classes.

Every area scored, with the thresholds: Where Chicago’s Gentrification Signals Are Active: East Garfield Park, New City and North Lawndale Show Four of Five. Logan Square, Avondale and the Lower West Side Show None.

Who bought

Companies bought 12.7 percent of the 869 homes sold in North Center in 2024 and 2025, and 7.7 percent of those sold in 2018 and 2019. Citywide the share was 14.2 percent in the later period. A buyer counts as a company when its name on the deed carries a marker such as LLC, Inc. or Corp.; trustees of land trusts are counted as trusts. Of the 3,261 homes bought here from 2018 through 2022, 176 were sold again by their buyer within two years, 5.4 percent. The citywide rate is 7.1 percent.

The buyer names on the deeds, and the resales, are counted here: Who Is Buying Chicago? The Buyer’s Name on 245,849 Deeds: Companies Bought 13 Percent of Homes and 46 Percent of Those Resold Within Two Years

Two-to-six-flats since 2006

The Assessor’s rolls counted 3,238 two-to-six-flat parcels in North Center in 2006 and 2,225 in 2026. Over the twenty years 1,087 left the class, and the largest group of those, 918, are now classed as single-family houses. Another 74 parcels joined the class. Citywide the count fell from 127,818 to 119,943.

Every flat parcel of 2006, followed to 2026: Chicago’s Tax Rolls Show 7,875 Fewer Two-to-Six-Flats Than in 2006. Of the 13,049 Parcels That Left the Count, 6,208 Are Now Classed as Single-Family Houses.

Valuations, appeals and mortgages

The Assessor valued the 235 houses and two-to-six-flats sold in North Center in 2025 at 81 percent of their sale prices, at the median. Citywide the figure is 81 percent. Of those sales, 45 were of a home that had sold within the two years before. With those set aside the figure is 82 percent, against 83 percent citywide. Owners of 41.8 of every 100 houses appealed their assessment to the Board of Review for tax year 2025, counting each house once, against 17.5 citywide, and 47 percent of those appeals won.

Valuations against sale prices, area by area: Chicago Houses and Two-to-Six-Flats Sold in 2025 Were Valued at 81 Percent of Their Sale Prices. Those Resold Within Two Years, at 60 Percent.

Appeals per 100 houses, mapped: Nearly Half of Lincoln Park’s Houses Appealed Their Property Tax Assessments. On the Southeast Side, About One in 24 Did.

Federal mortgage records show 415 home-purchase loans in North Center in 2025, and the county file shows 458 sales. The two are separate systems with different coverage and do not match sale for sale. Of the loans, 30 were marked as not for the borrower’s own occupancy.

The lending records and their limits: At Least 1,532 Chicago Homes Sold for $100,000 or Less in 2025. Lenders Wrote 289 Mortgages That Size.

Permits and licenses

The city issued 26 new-construction permits in North Center in the first half of 2025 and 20 in the first half of 2026. Citywide the counts were 666 and 698. Counted two years at a time, the area had 148 in 2018–19 and 142 in 2024–25. A permit is an approval to build and is not a finished building.

Every permit of the half-year, by area: Chicago Issued 698 New-Construction Permits in the First Half of 2026. Here’s Where They Went.

First-time business licenses numbered 122 in 2019 and 87 in 2025. Citywide they fell from 7,464 to 6,503. The file counts licenses issued and does not show whether a business opened or stayed open.

The citywide count: Chicago Licenses 1,000 Fewer New Businesses a Year Than Before the Pandemic. The Gap Is Downtown.

City services

For requests to 311 created from January 1, 2024 through June 15, 2026, the median time to close in North Center was: graffiti removal, 0.7 days on 3,566 requests, against 0.7 days citywide; potholes, 4.2 days on 1,565 requests, against 5.8 days citywide; streetlight outages, 1.9 days on 658 requests, against 2.5 days citywide; abandoned vehicles, 13.9 days on 1,488 requests, against 11.6 days citywide; rodent complaints, 3.6 days on 2,001 requests, against 3.1 days citywide. A closed request is the city’s record that it closed the request. It does not confirm the repair.

Every request type and area, with the method: A Chicago 311 Garbage-Cart Request Took a Median 15.9 Days to Close, a Pothole 5.8 and a Traffic-Signal-Out Report 3 Hours: 883,837 Requests Timed by Community Area

Affordable-rental inventory and the L

The city’s affordable-rental inventory lists five developments with 162 units in North Center, 40th by units among the 66 community areas on the list. The inventory is the city’s own list of developments its programs support. It was last updated December 30, 2024 and is partial by its own description.

Our count of that inventory is in a piece that also covers the state law barring rent control: New York City’s Rent Board Set 2026-27 Stabilized Increases at Zero. Illinois Law Bars Chicago From Controlling Private Rents.

Two L stations stand inside North Center’s boundary. Average weekday entries in January through May of 2019 and of 2026, with the later figure as a share of the earlier: Irving Park, on the Brown Line, 3,171 and 1,713 (54 percent); Addison, on the Brown Line, 2,507 and 1,317 (52 percent). Systemwide the figure is 62 percent.

Every station against its own 2019 count: Only Two L Stations Are Busier Than Before the Pandemic. Neither Is Downtown.

How this page is built

Every figure on this page is read from the published output of the analysis linked beside it, as those stood on October 1, 2026. Nothing here is measured separately, and each linked analysis states its own sources, periods and limits. The sale prices and buyer shares come from the county’s sales file as updated September 15, 2026. The county is still adding sales dated 2025, and those figures get another reading in January 2027. This page reports what the records show and takes no position on where anyone ought to live.

Assembled by KCM Desk from the analyses linked above. Published October 1, 2026. Human-guided and edited — about this desk. If you spot an error, corrections come first.