South Cook News

In November 2017, Christine Johnson paid $22,000 – $22,500 in today's dollars – for a two-bedroom, 912-square-foot home at 14232 S. Stewart Ave. in Riverdale. The home's 2017 property taxes were $2,221, an effective rate then of approximately 10 percent.

Johnson sold the home on Feb. 23 for $75,000. 

The median effective rate in Riverdale this year is nearly 9 percent, according to a Blockshopper.com analysis of real estate sales data in South Cook from Jan 1. to June 30, 2018, among the highest in South Cook.

It is also about 7.5 times the national average.

Put another way: a $75,000 home in Indiana, where the effective rate is 0.89 percent, would have a property tax bill of about $668 or more than $1,550 less than the Riverdale home's 2017 tax bill..

Blockshopper's data, covering 51 South Cook communities, indicates that homeowners in Riverdale, Park Forest and Harvey pay the highest property taxes in South Suburbs – between 7 and 9 percent.

The communities of Sauk Village, Markham, Dolton, East Hazel Crest, Burnham, Calumet City, Calumet Park, Country Club Hills, Olympia Fields, Hazel Crest, Flossmoor and Chicago Heights have effective property tax rates of between 4 and 7 percent.

Illinois homeowners pay the second-highest property taxes in the country with an effective median rate of 2.22 percent, just behind those in New Jersey (2.28 percent).

Equity-less home ownership

Donna Arianoutsos sold her 950-square-foot home at 39 Apple Court in Park Forest on Jan. 4 for $50,000. The transaction amounted to a $14,000 loss based on what she paid for it – $64,000 – in January 2002.

But that loss is just the tip of the iceberg. Taking into account the effects of inflation, the home cost Arianoutsos $91,000 in today's dollars. Then consider that she paid about $63,000 in taxes while she owned the house, with the final tax bill at $5,654, meaning Arianoutsos' effective tax rate was 11 percent. All told, she lost about $104,000 on the deal.

In other parts of the South Suburbs, some properties have become largely unsalable, and numerous sales involve foreclosures and bank-owned properties. But overall, Cook County home values have risen about 5 percent over last year at this time, according to Zillow.com, and the median home value is $222,400.

Sales activity appears to be down for high-end home sellers. In Orland Hills, where the median home value is $190,000, sales were down 5 percent in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2017. And in Lemont, where the median home value is $315,000, sales numbers were down 1.6 percent over the same time period.

Those communities have lower effective tax rates than many other parts of South Suburbs.

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South Cook communities paying the highest effective property tax rates

The following table ranks South Cook County communities with more than five home sales by their median effective property tax rate, calculated using sales and property tax data from 2018.

City	Jan - June 2018 Sales	Jan - June 2018 Median Price	Median tax	Effective Property Tax Rate
Riverdale	65	$32,000	$2,871	8.97%
Park Forest	151	$59,000	$4,938	8.37%
Harvey	76	$31,250	$2,419	7.74%
Sauk Village	77	$37,000	$2,523	6.82%
Markham	69	$45,000	$3,034	6.74%
Dolton	205	$60,000	$3,648	6.08%
East Hazel Crest	12	$62,000	$3,724	6.01%
Burnham	20	$60,500	$2,964	4.90%
Calumet City	256	$72,000	$3,478	4.83%
Calumet Park	55	$74,000	$3,422	4.62%
Country Club Hills	179	$109,500	$4,975	4.54%
Olympia Fields	40	$179,750	$8,061	4.48%
Hazel Crest	108	$83,500	$3,642	4.36%
Flossmoor	92	$208,250	$8,492	4.08%
Chicago Heights	166	$82,000	$3,335	4.07%
Thornton	26	$87,000	$3,400	3.91%
Matteson	150	$143,500	$5,560	3.87%
Glenwood	70	$107,750	$4,165	3.87%
Richton Park	102	$124,500	$4,574	3.67%
South Chicago Heights	29	$74,000	$2,686	3.63%
Summit	43	$155,000	$5,542	3.58%
Homewood	187	$138,500	$4,741	3.42%
South Holland	231	$139,000	$4,648	3.34%
Lansing	266	$115,000	$3,822	3.32%
Alsip	116	$144,750	$4,631	3.20%
Midlothian	138	$133,250	$4,231	3.18%
Blue Island	101	$107,000	$3,350	3.13%
Oak Forest	245	$180,000	$5,632	3.13%
Tinley Park	556	$190,000	$5,869	3.09%
Lynwood	49	$162,000	$4,909	3.03%
Bridgeview	63	$178,000	$4,925	2.77%
Chicago Ridge	91	$118,000	$3,147	2.67%
Orland Hills	48	$190,000	$5,048	2.66%
Hometown	47	$115,000	$3,016	2.62%
Worth	98	$169,500	$4,440	2.62%
Justice	60	$176,000	$4,555	2.59%
Hickory Hills	106	$217,250	$5,537	2.55%
Evergreen Park	178	$180,250	$4,530	2.51%
Stickney	46	$173,750	$4,284	2.47%
Oak Lawn	535	$174,500	$4,205	2.41%
Posen	36	$107,500	$2,587	2.41%
Burbank	161	$185,000	$4,382	2.37%
Orland Park	559	$247,000	$5,838	2.36%
Palos Heights	121	$270,000	$6,255	2.32%
Robbins	12	$50,250	$1,164	2.32%
Palos Park	85	$325,000	$7,178	2.21%
Merrionette Park	13	$130,000	$2,792	2.15%
Lemont	137	$315,000	$6,719	2.13%
Crestwood	122	$114,000	$2,431	2.13%
Palos Hills	162	$160,000	$3,301	2.06%
Steger	27	$90,000	$1,662	1.85%

Source: Blockshopper.com; Cook County Assessment Office

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South Cook median home prices

The following table ranks South Cook County communities by the change in their median sale price from 2017 to 2018.

City	Jan - June 2017 Sales	Jan - June 2017 Median Price	Jan - June 2018 Sales	Jan - June 2018 Median Price	Change
Robbins	16	$25,000	12	$50,250	101.00%
Worth	78	$102,000	98	$169,500	66.18%
Harvey	61	$21,500	76	$31,250	45.35%
Park Forest	134	$40,750	151	$59,000	44.79%
Lansing	310	$81,000	266	$115,000	41.98%
Chicago Heights	138	$60,000	166	$82,000	36.67%
Richton Park	102	$92,500	102	$124,500	34.59%
East Hazel Crest	9	$47,000	12	$62,000	31.91%
Posen	32	$81,500	36	$107,500	31.90%
Chicago Ridge	89	$92,000	91	$118,000	28.26%
South Holland	235	$109,000	231	$139,000	27.52%
Lynwood	56	$132,000	49	$162,000	22.73%
Glenwood	100	$89,000	70	$107,750	21.07%
Hometown	37	$95,000	47	$115,000	21.05%
Crestwood	116	$95,000	122	$114,000	20.00%
Dolton	208	$51,000	205	$60,000	17.65%
Calumet Park	30	$63,750	55	$74,000	16.08%
Country Club Hills	143	$96,000	179	$109,500	14.06%
Justice	50	$154,750	60	$176,000	13.73%
Calumet City	260	$64,000	256	$72,000	12.50%
Matteson	196	$128,000	150	$143,500	12.11%
Summit	63	$138,500	43	$155,000	11.91%
Palos Heights	111	$243,000	121	$270,000	11.11%
Palos Park	70	$295,500	85	$325,000	9.98%
Hazel Crest	133	$76,000	108	$83,500	9.87%
Bridgeview	84	$162,750	63	$178,000	9.37%
Evergreen Park	168	$165,000	178	$180,250	9.24%
Steger	28	$82,750	27	$90,000	8.76%
Stickney	46	$161,500	46	$173,750	7.59%
Alsip	143	$135,000	116	$144,750	7.22%
Oak Forest	224	$168,500	245	$180,000	6.82%
Oak Lawn	540	$165,000	535	$174,500	5.76%
Tinley Park	494	$180,000	556	$190,000	5.56%
Hickory Hills	77	$206,000	106	$217,250	5.46%
Burbank	181	$177,500	161	$185,000	4.23%
Merrionette Park	14	$125,500	13	$130,000	3.59%
Thornton	15	$85,000	26	$87,000	2.35%
Palos Hills	130	$156,500	162	$160,000	2.24%
Blue Island	105	$105,000	101	$107,000	1.90%
South Chicago Heights	40	$73,000	29	$74,000	1.37%
Midlothian	114	$132,750	138	$133,250	0.38%
Sauk Village	81	$37,000	77	$37,000	0.00%
Orland Park	527	$249,000	559	$247,000	-0.80%
Flossmoor	123	$210,000	92	$208,250	-0.83%
Lemont	113	$320,000	137	$315,000	-1.56%
Homewood	189	$143,000	187	$138,500	-3.15%
Riverdale	41	$33,500	65	$32,000	-4.48%
Orland Hills	48	$199,500	48	$190,000	-4.76%
Olympia Fields	41	$190,000	40	$179,750	-5.39%
Burnham	26	$66,500	20	$60,500	-9.02%
Markham	82	$55,000	69	$45,000	-18.18%

Source: Blockshopper.com; Cook County Recorder