These five price points may be entirely different real estate markets.

Today I'm going to talk to you about the five price points in most towns and counties here in the Chicagoland area, as well as across the country. I often get home sellers or buyers asking me, “What does a luxury home price start at in Downers Grove, Naperville, Wheaton, or Glencoe?” Whatever town it is, it really is all relative to that particular town. Some brokerages define a luxury home as a $1,000,000 and above home, but in some towns in downstate Illinois, it will be very difficult to find $1,000,000 plus property. So I want to keep it simple and talk about the five price points in most towns in the Chicagoland suburbs and even downstate in some of those very rural areas.

"It really is all relative to that particular town."

I want to start with the second bucket. Bucket number two is what I call an average price point. As real estate agents, we can find that through title companies or our real estate board. There's an average price point in Hinsdale versus Oak Brook versus Glen Allen versus Geneva. From that price point, you go down to bucket number one, which is the starter price point or entry-level. Bucket number three is what we define as a high-end home, which is a home that's two times the average sale price for that community. Bucket number four is what we call a luxury home, and we define a luxury home for that given community as a home that is three times the average sale price.

Then you have the fifth bucket. It’s not in all suburbs—particularly, they are found in the suburbs just on the outskirts of the city. Suburbs in DuPage County, Lake County, Cook County, as well as Will County. We call that ultra-luxury, and we define an ultra-luxury home, the fifth bucket, as a home that is ten times that average price point.

So if a home seller or buyer says, “Hey, Mike, how's the market?” I have to dive into the fact that, overall, it might be a strong market, but at certain price points, it might be a buyer's market. So again, you can't say it's a seller's market across the board, and you can't say it's a buyer's market.

If you have any questions about the five price points or real estate in general, or if you want to buy or sell, please contact me. I would be happy to help with all of your real estate needs.