(CHICAGO) -- The full market value of real estate in Cook County was approximately $585.8 billion in tax assessment year 2017 according to an annual estimate released today by the Civic Federation. The 2017 total value estimate represents an increase of $26.1 billion, or 4.7%, from the 2016 estimated full value. Tax year 2017 is the most recent year for which data are available. The 2017 estimates represent the fifth year that real estate values in Cook County increased following six straight years of decline in value.[1]
“This fifth consecutive year of growth in the estimated full value of property in Cook County is a positive sign that the real estate market continues to recover,” said Civic Federation President Laurence Msall. Prior to 2007, the estimated full value of real estate in the City of Chicago and suburbs grew every year going back to at least 1995.
In addition to Cook County as a whole, the report estimates the full market value of real estate in the City of Chicago, north Cook County suburbs and south Cook County suburbs. The estimated full market value of real estate in the City of Chicago increased by 4.4% in tax assessment year 2017, while the north and south suburbs experienced increases of 4.0% and 6.6%, respectively.
While the estimated full value of real estate has increased since 2012, the 2017 full value of real estate was still $30 billion lower than it was ten years prior in 2008. Between 2008 and 2017 the estimated full value of all classes of property in Cook County as a whole declined by 4.9%. As shown in the chart below, estimated full value decreased from $616 billion in 2008 to a low of $414 billion in 2012, a decline of 32.8%, then rose to $586 billion in 2017, an increase of 41.5%.
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The full market value estimates in this report are based on two data sources: the total assessed value of property as reported by the Cook County Assessor’s Office and the median level of assessment reported by the Illinois Department of Revenue. The Illinois Department of Revenue collects data on property sales and calculates the ratio of assessed values to sales values. That data is used to compute the mean assessment-to-sales ratio, or the median level of assessment.
The Civic Federation estimates the full value of property by dividing the median level of assessment into the total assessed value of each class of property in Cook County. For those classes for which the Department of Revenue does not calculate a median level of assessment, the level set by County ordinance is used.