It's a side effect of the recent housing boom we've seen in several areas such as Las Vegas and now it appears to be hitting the Northwest Chicago Suburbs.
As more and more Chicago area developers converted apartments over to condominiums (condominium conversions) and focused more on building brand new Northwest Chicago condominiums and less on Apartments, vacancy percentages for landlords went down which has resulted in Landlords having the ability to raise rents.
According to Appraisal Research Counselors, rent in Northwest Cook County and Lake County had the biggest jumps and for the Suburban Chicago real estate rental market as a whole, rents went up 2% for the first quarter of 2007.
| SUBURBAN APARTMENT MARKET | |||
| Net rents for suburban apartments rose in the first quarter, matching a two-year high, while the vacancy rate edged down yet remained tight at 96%. Net rent factors in the value of concessions landlords give tenants, such as rent abatement. | |||
| Net rent per square foot | |||
| Selected submarkets | 1st quarter 2007 | 4th quarter 2006 | 1st quarter 2006 |
| Northwest Cook | $1.12 | $1.09 | $1.01 |
| DuPage County | $1.10 | $1.08 | $1.07 |
| Lake County | $1.20 | $1.11 | $1.10 |
| Naperville-Aurora | $1.06 | $1.04 | $1.03 |
| Waukegan-Gurnee | $0.96 | $1.00 | $1.14 |
| Total | $1.08 | $1.06 | $1.06 |
| Source: Appraisal Research Counselors | |||