As if Zillow was ever a "wonderful" valuation tool(I've already share my thoughts on that one!), a new to Chicago real estate tool has entered the market thanks to Altos Research. Altos has begun providing "real-time" market snapshots for five specific geographic regions. "Real-time" is relative as some of the real estate industry sources they use have as much as a months lag time. Overall, I think it has some really interesting tools that can be helpful to the consumer. I particularly like the days on market, market action index, and inventory measures. No, it won't tell you how much your neighbor's house or condo sold for, plus or minus 7%, but it has the potential to provide a gauge of what's happening at a truly local level. Did I say that it's information is updated weekly at the zip code level, yes zip code. The days on market, market action index, median-home price trends and price per square foot tools are all free. And if you're really into the nitty-gritty you can pay $15/month for weekly updates on market conditions.
I am excited to see how accurate their stats are, though on my first try to download the free report, I didn't have much luck. Apparently they're still working some of the bugs out.
Graph courtesy of Altos Research
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