Sales of several large commercial properties sent the average selling price of properties soaring in Evanston last month, while the underlying downward trend in transactions continued.
Sales of several large commercial properties sent the average selling price of properties soaring in Evanston last month, while the underlying downward trend in transactions continued.
Evanston’s first skyscraper, the Orrington Plaza complex at 1603 Orrington Ave. sold for $54.5 million on Oct. 2 and the 1920s-vintage apartment and retail complex at the southwest corner of Davis Street and Oak Avenue sold for $6.97 million on Oct. 24.
The city clerk’s office reports the average selling price in October was just over $1 million, compared to an average of just over $500,000 for the fiscal year so far as a whole.
With October’s numbers included, the average selling price is now up 12 percent from the same period last year and 31 percent from two years ago. However, transactions of the size of the Orrington Plaza deal don’t happen every year.
Most sales recorded each year are of single family homes, and overall the number of sales has been declining. The number of transactions so far this year has dropped 5 percent from a year ago and is down 12 percent from two years back.
The city charges its transfer tax on real estate sales at a rate of $5 per $1,000 of selling price. The city expects to raise $4 million from the transfer tax, and with October’s big sales it seems almost certain to meet that target for the fiscal year that ends in February.
Other large transactions in October included the sale of a large 1920s apartment building on southeast corner of Dempster Street and Judson Avenue for $3.9 million, a similar building on the southwest corner of Hinman Avenue and Keeney Street for $3 million, and a vintage courtyard apartment building at 733 Hinman Ave. for $2.6 million
Four single family homes changed hands for over $1 million in October. They included a mansion at 1128 Ridge Ave. for $1.85 million, a home at 2810 Sheridan Place near the lakefront for $1.575 million, a house at 2722 Isabella St. for $1.07 million and one at 2133 Harrison St. for just over $1 million.