Kenwood By The Numbers: Prices, Buyers, Permits

The median condominium in Kenwood, on Chicago’s South Side, sold for $235,000 in 2025, up 10 percent from $214,500 in 2019, the second-smallest rise among the 37 community areas with enough condominium sales to compare, after the Loop. Condominiums are two-thirds of what sells: 99 of the 150 home sales in 2025. The median house rose 44 percent, from $525,000 to $755,000.

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

Kenwood in the recordsfigure

Median house sale, 2025$525,000 in 2019. 49 sales in 2025.$755K
Median condominium sale, 2025$214,500 in 2019. 99 sales in 2025.$235K
Market signals activeOf three that could be measured.0 of 3
Homes bought by companies, 2024–2510.4 percent in 2018–19.10.0%
Bought 2018–22 and resold within two years46 of 870 purchases.5.3%
Assessor valuation as a share of sale price51 sales in 2025.91%
Two-to-six-flats on the tax rolls, 2026162 in 2006.132

What homes sold for

The county recorded sales of 49 houses, two two-to-six-flats and 99 condominiums in Kenwood in 2025. The median house sold for $525,000 in 2019 and $755,000 in 2025, up 44 percent, 41st 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 condominium went from $214,500 to $235,000, up 10 percent, 36th among the 37 community areas with 20 or more condominium sales in both years; citywide the rise was 26 percent. The 2025 figure rests on 49 house sales, few enough that a handful of sales can move it. Too few two-to-six-flats sold in one of the two years for a median.

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 three market signals that could be measured is active, and two could not be measured

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 Kenwood, three of the five could be measured and none of those 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 Kenwoodactive

House pricesCounts only where the 2019 median house price was below the citywide $230,000. Here it was $525,000.no
Two-to-six-flat pricesFewer than 20 sales of two-to-six-flats in 2019 or in 2025, too few to measure.n/a
Company buyersCompanies bought 10.4 percent of homes sold in 2018–19 and 10.0 percent in 2024–25, down 0.4 points. The bar is a rise of five points.no
New-construction permitsPermits numbered 14 in 2018–19 and ten in 2024–25. The bar is 1.5 times the earlier count, with at least eight in the later period.no
New business licensesToo few first-time business licenses to measure.n/a

Did Kenwood’s homes keep pace with the city’s? The houses did, rising 44 percent against 39 percent citywide; the condominiums did not, rising 10 percent against 26. The Assessor valued the houses and two-to-six-flats sold here in 2025 at 91 percent of their sale prices, the second-highest share of the 65 areas with a figure. Companies bought 10.0 percent of the homes sold in 2024–25, about the 10.4 percent of 2018–19. Our reading: Kenwood’s two markets moved apart, the houses with the city and the condominiums well behind it.

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 10.0 percent of the 291 homes sold in Kenwood in 2024 and 2025, and 10.4 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 870 homes bought here from 2018 through 2022, 46 were sold again by their buyer within two years, 5.3 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 162 two-to-six-flat parcels in Kenwood in 2006 and 132 in 2026. Over the twenty years 51 left the class, and the largest group of those, 39, are now classed as single-family houses. Another 21 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 51 houses and two-to-six-flats sold in Kenwood in 2025 at 91 percent of their sale prices, at the median. Citywide the figure is 81 percent. Owners of 24.2 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 36 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 127 home-purchase loans in Kenwood in 2025, and the county file shows 150 sales. The two are separate systems with different coverage and do not match sale for sale. Of the sales, 13 were for $100,000 or less, and lenders made four purchase loans that size. The records do not say how the other sales were paid for. Of the loans, four 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 one new-construction permit in Kenwood in the first half of 2025 and two in the first half of 2026. Citywide the counts were 666 and 698. Counted two years at a time, the area had 14 in 2018–19 and ten 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 30 in 2019 and 24 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 Kenwood was: graffiti removal, 0.9 days on 207 requests, against 0.7 days citywide; potholes, 6.2 days on 350 requests, against 5.8 days citywide; streetlight outages, 2.6 days on 398 requests, against 2.5 days citywide; abandoned vehicles, 9.6 days on 540 requests, against 11.6 days citywide; rodent complaints, 3.0 days on 220 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 four developments with 455 units in Kenwood, 22nd 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.

No L station lies inside Kenwood’s boundary.

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 7, 2026; rebuilt October 1, 2026. Human-guided and edited — about this desk. If you spot an error, corrections come first.