Selling prices of properties in Evanston rose in August, partially recovering from a sharp drop in July, and the number of sales increased slightly.
The average selling price in August was $456,001 up from $417,530 in July, but down from $512,391 in June. For the new fiscal year so far, the average selling price of homes and other property covered by the city’s Real Estate Transfer Tax is up 5.5 percent from the same period in 2005-06, and up 23.3 percent from the same period in 2004-05.
For the full fiscal year that ended in February, average selling prices were up 13 percent from the previous year.
The transfer tax is charged at a rate of $5 per $1,000 of selling price. The city expects to raise $4,000,000 from the transfer tax this year, a level it just barely reached last year. After a slow start, tax receipts are now running 23 percent ahead of that target.
Total transactions in August were 216, up slightly from the 210 recorded in July.
In the largest property transfer of the month, a commercial building at 1001 Chicago Ave was sold for $3.04 million. The buyers plan to construct condominiums on the site.
A lakefront mansion at 101 Hamilton St. sold for $2.85 million and the former Hines Lumber Yard at 1613 Church St., the planned site of 40 townhouses, was sold to the townhome developer for $2.6 million.
Six other properties sold for over $1 million last month.