Washington Park By The Numbers: Prices, Buyers, Permits

The median two-to-six-flat in Washington Park, on Chicago’s South Side, sold for $562,500 in 2025, 2.62 times the $215,000 of 2019, the fourth-largest rise among the 46 areas with enough sales to compare. New-construction permits more than doubled, from 20 in 2018–19 to 43 in 2024–25; those are the two market signals active here, of the three that could be measured. Companies bought 35.1 percent of the homes sold in 2024–25, the third-highest share of any area, after Burnside and South Shore.

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

Washington Park in the recordsfigure

Median two-to-six-flat sale, 2025$215,000 in 2019. 28 sales in 2025.$563K
Median condominium sale, 2025$95,000 in 2019. 26 sales in 2025.$143K
Market signals activeOf three that could be measured.2 of 3
Homes bought by companies, 2024–2537.5 percent in 2018–19.35.1%
Bought 2018–22 and resold within two years30 of 393 purchases.7.6%
Two-to-six-flats on the tax rolls, 2026542 in 2006.466

What homes sold for

The county recorded sales of 11 houses, 28 two-to-six-flats and 26 condominiums in Washington Park in 2025. The median two-to-six-flat went from $215,000 to $562,500, up 162 percent, the fourth-largest rise 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 $95,000 to $142,500, up 50 percent, the seventh-largest rise among the 37 community areas with 20 or more condominium sales in both years; citywide the rise was 26 percent. The 2025 medians here rest on 28 two-to-six-flat sales and 26 condominium sales, few enough that a handful of sales can move them. Too few houses 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

Two market signals are 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 Washington Park, three of the five could be measured and two of those are 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 Washington Parkactive

House pricesFewer than 20 house sales in 2019 or in 2025, too few to measure.n/a
Two-to-six-flat pricesThe median two-to-six-flat price was 2.62 times its 2019 level in 2025. The bar is 1.78 times.yes
Company buyersCompanies bought 37.5 percent of homes sold in 2018–19 and 35.1 percent in 2024–25, down 2.4 points. The bar is a rise of five points.no
New-construction permitsPermits numbered 20 in 2018–19 and 43 in 2024–25. The bar is 1.5 times the earlier count, with at least eight in the later period.yes
New business licensesToo few first-time business licenses to measure.n/a

The flats signal rests on few sales, 31 in 2019 and 28 in 2025. Companies were already more than a third of buyers in 2018–19, at 37.5 percent, and their share dipped to 35.1. The tax rolls show 466 two-to-six-flats, 76 fewer than in 2006; of the 140 that left the class, the largest group, 37, are now classed as apartment buildings of seven or more units, and 34 as vacant land. Our reading: in Washington Park the flats that sell fetch far more than in 2019 and new construction picked up, while companies remain about a third of buyers.

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 35.1 percent of the 114 homes sold in Washington Park in 2024 and 2025, and 37.5 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 those company purchases, two in 2024 and 2025 and one in 2018 and 2019 were units of a building in which the same company bought five or more. Of the 393 homes bought here from 2018 through 2022, 30 were sold again by their buyer within two years, 7.6 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

Condominium buildings bought in bulk, and the rules for selling one whole: Chicago’s Condo Deconversion Pattern: 69 Buildings Bought in Bulk Since 2018 Left the Tax Rolls as Condominiums, the Nearest Parcels Now Classed as Apartment Buildings or Two-to-Six-Flats

Two-to-six-flats since 2006

The Assessor’s rolls counted 542 two-to-six-flat parcels in Washington Park in 2006 and 466 in 2026. Over the twenty years 140 left the class, and the largest group of those, 37, are now classed as apartment buildings of seven or more units. Another 64 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

Owners of 26.3 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 41 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 39 home-purchase loans in Washington Park in 2025, and the county file shows 65 sales. The two are separate systems with different coverage and do not match sale for sale. Of the sales, eight were for $100,000 or less, and lenders made one purchase loan that size. The records do not say how the other sales were paid for. Of the loans, eight 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 16 new-construction permits in Washington Park in the first half of 2025 and 15 in the first half of 2026. Citywide the counts were 666 and 698. Counted two years at a time, the area had 20 in 2018–19 and 43 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.

City services

For requests to 311 created from January 1, 2024 through June 15, 2026, the median time to close in Washington Park was: graffiti removal, 0.7 days on 448 requests, against 0.7 days citywide; potholes, 6.2 days on 446 requests, against 5.8 days citywide; streetlight outages, 2.5 days on 630 requests, against 2.5 days citywide; abandoned vehicles, 12.2 days on 516 requests, against 11.6 days citywide; rodent complaints, 2.8 days on 199 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 18 developments with 883 units in Washington Park, 12th 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.

One L station stands inside Washington Park’s boundary, by the CTA’s station coordinates and the city’s community-area map. Garfield, on the Green Line, averaged 952 weekday entries in January through May 2019 and 788 in the same months of 2026, 83 percent of the earlier figure. 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 7, 2026; rebuilt October 1, 2026. Human-guided and edited — about this desk. If you spot an error, corrections come first.