Lyn Wise Group · North Shore Market Intelligence Data: Single-Family Homes · lynwisegroup.com · (312) 860-7294
WHAT IS THE MARKET ACTION INDEX?
MAI compares the rate of home sales to available inventory. Above 50, sellers have the edge and it's a stronger environment to list in, but a more competitive one to buy in. Below 50, that balance shifts the other way. It tells you where prices are headed before they move.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEK
Two of last week's best stories didn't hold. Highland Park's relist rate, which had dropped from a record 50% to 43%, jumped back to 51%. Bad news for sellers there, since the pricing correction didn't stick, but good news for buyers, who have real leverage again. Glencoe's upgrade to a Strong Seller's Market reversed too, sliding back to Slight Seller's Advantage with days on market more than doubling. Tougher for Glencoe sellers, an opening for Glencoe buyers.
Deerfield still carries the region's highest relist rate at 54%, unchanged and still a caution flag for sellers, but homes there are actually selling faster than last week, a genuine bright spot. Lake Forest continues its slow, predictable cooling: harder for sellers who need sharper pricing, steadily better for patient buyers. Northbrook is really two markets in one this week. Entry-level homes are getting scooped up fast (great for entry sellers, competitive for entry buyers), while top-tier listings sit for months (the reverse: good for top-end buyers, a warning for top-end sellers).
WHAT CHANGED FROM LAST WEEK
The bigger lesson: two straight "the market is correcting itself" stories just proved less durable than they looked. For sellers especially, one strong week isn't a trend. Price to the data in front of you, not the momentum of a week or two ago.
NORTHBROOK · IL 60062 MAI 65 · Strong Seller's Market · Inventory: 37 · Median DOM: 49 days
Still the North Shore's strongest seller's market, but the average time on market jumped to 123 days while the median held near 49. A handful of stale listings are skewing the average. Inventory tightened to 37. The entry tier ($669,000) absorbed five homes against one new listing; the top tier ($2.47M) sat 157 days with just two sales.
For sellers: entry-level, you have real leverage right now. Top-tier, expect a longer runway and price with patience. For buyers: the top of the market is where to negotiate; entry-level buyers should expect real competition.
HIGHLAND PARK · IL 60035 MAI 53 · Strong Seller's Market · Inventory: 37 · Median DOM: 77 days
The correction we highlighted two weeks ago reversed. Relist rate climbed from 43% back to 51%, nearly matching the record. Median days on market jumped from 46 to 77.
For sellers: the pricing discipline that worked two weeks ago didn't hold. Treat this as a reminder to price to today's data and expect a longer sale. For buyers: this is good news for you specifically. Leverage that briefly disappeared is back, and with half of listings having already failed once, there's real room to negotiate.
DEERFIELD · IL 60015 MAI 49 · Strong Seller's Market · Inventory: 37 · Median DOM: 49 days
Relist rate held at 54%, still the North Shore's highest, but median days on market improved meaningfully, from 70 to 49. The entry tier ($609,900) absorbed two against one new; the $825,000 tier saw three new listings and zero sales. For sellers: the relist rate is still the headline concern, but correctly priced homes are moving faster than last week. Proof the fix works if you make it. For buyers: still the North Shore's best negotiating environment on paper, though the faster pace means less time to deliberate than it did last week.
GLENCOE · IL 60022 MAI 43 · Slight Seller's Advantage (downgraded from Strong Seller's Market) · Inventory: 21 · Median DOM: 56 days
Last week's upgrade didn't last. MAI eased to 43 and median days on market more than doubled, from 25 to 56. Three of four price tiers had zero new listings and zero sales this week. Genuinely quiet outside the $2.25M tier, which absorbed four homes.
For sellers: a sharper environment than last week's data suggested. Price with extra care, especially above $2.5M where activity has gone quiet. For buyers: the pause is your opportunity, particularly in the upper tiers where there's currently no competition at all.
LAKE FOREST · IL 60045 MAI 37 · Slight Seller's Advantage · Inventory: 44 · Median DOM: 70 days
A third straight week of gradual cooling. Days on market rose to 70, and a quarter of listings took a price cut. New listings are entering at $1,450,000, well under the market median, keeping pricing realistic even as pace slows.
For sellers: this market rewards patience and realistic pricing over urgency. Price to recent comparable sales, not last month's number. For buyers: conditions keep improving here, gradually and consistently. This remains one of the more buyer-friendly markets on the North Shore right now.
MORTGAGE UPDATE
The 30-year fixed rate sits in the high-6% range (roughly 6.6%–6.8% depending), easing marginally this week after the U.S. paused Iran airstrikes and pivoted to diplomacy. For buyers, that's modest relief after weeks of upward pressure. For sellers, stable-to-easing rates help sustain the buyer pool at the price points where activity has been strongest.
FINAL THOUGHTS
For sellers: two markets that looked "fixed" two weeks ago, Highland Park and Glencoe, just proved that pricing corrections have to hold for more than one week to count. Price to this week's data, everywhere.
For buyers: Highland Park, Deerfield, Glencoe's upper tiers, and Lake Forest all offer real leverage right now. Northbrook and Glencoe's lower tiers still favor sellers.
Be Wise About the Market. Lyn Wise Group | www.lynwisegroup.com | (312) 860-7294 Data sourced from Altos Research. Updated every Tuesday.
