Is Lincoln Park Paying Over Asking or Is It Cooling Off? Reading Redfin, Realtor.com and the Census Renters and High Rises

Why do the Lincoln Park medians differ so much?

Start with what each figure measures. Redfin's $894,068 is a median sale price across all home types for the three months ending August 2026, for the neighborhood. Realtor.com's $808,000 is a median sold price for September 2026 for the postal area, which is a larger area and has a different mix. The first is 10.7% above the second, and the second is 9.6% below the first, computed here. The postal area page shows a listing median of $800,000, which is 1.0% below its own sold median, an unusual order that tells a seller the area's sold homes are not the same mix as its listed homes.

The year-on-year changes agree on direction and disagree on size. Redfin's rise of 24.2% implies a median of about $719,862 a year earlier, and Realtor.com's rise of 15.43% implies about $699,991. The year-earlier values are only 2.8% apart, so the two pages agree on where prices stood a year ago and then differ on how far they rose. Zillow's index, at $610,602, up 3.9%, implies about $587,682 a year earlier, a gentler rise from a lower level. An index of all estimated homes usually moves more slowly than sold medians, so the three are less in conflict than they look.

Listing prices run in the opposite direction. Realtor.com's postal area listing median is down 13.84%, which implies about $928,505 a year earlier, while its sold median is up 15.43%. The neighborhood page for March 2026 showed a listing median of $880,000, up 12.10%, which implies about $785,013. These are listing medians for different areas and months, and they move with the mix of homes on the market. A listing median that falls when sold prices rise often means that more small units, such as condominiums, were listed, and that is an inference, not a statement from the page.

Realtor.com's neighborhood page also mixes its words. Its summary describes a 12.10% year-on-year growth in the median sale price, while its table shows a listing price with that change. A seller should read each figure by its label and not by its commentary, and should not average a listing figure with a sold figure.

A seller can use the spread as a list of questions rather than a target. The sold figures run from $808,000 to $894,068, a span of $86,068, computed here. The right number for a home is the closed price of a similar property nearby in the same season, and in a neighborhood this mixed, a condominium and a greystone can be on the same block and have little to say about each other's price.

Sources as cited. Ratios and year-earlier values in this section are computed from the published figures and percentages.

How long do homes in Lincoln Park take to sell, and how big are the premiums?

Here the discount question turns around. Redfin shows a sale-to-list ratio of 103.9%, up 3.2 points, and says the average home sells about 2% above list and goes pending in around 41 days. It adds that the homes that sell fastest sell for about 7% above list and go pending in around 26 days, and that many homes get multiple offers, some with waived contingencies. On a $894,068 median, 2% is $17,881 and 7% is $62,585, computed here. Realtor.com's postal area page shows 100%, so by its measure the typical home sells at list.

Time on market is short on both pages. Redfin shows 37 days for the three months ending August 2026, against 43 a year earlier, a fall of 6 days or 14.0%, computed here. Realtor.com shows 26 days for September for the postal area, down 7.69%, which implies about 28 a year earlier, and 18 days for the neighborhood in March. The pages count differently, but all of them describe a market where a well-priced home is under contract within a month or so.

Sales counts are steady. Redfin shows 426 homes sold in August against 416 a year earlier, an increase of 10 or 2.4%. That is a large sample for a monthly median, so the Redfin price is firmer than the figures in the luxury markets. Realtor.com's inventory shows 215 active listings in the postal area, down 3.85%, which implies about 224 a year earlier, and 188 in the neighborhood in March, down 33.76%, which implies about 284. Fewer listings, quick sales and prices at or above list are the signs of a seller-friendly market.

The Compete Score of 75 on a scale of 100 puts Lincoln Park in the very competitive range, and Realtor.com's Hotness Index of 99 for the neighborhood in March says the same. Against that, the postal area's one-month fall of 10.22% in the sold median and 9.03% in the listing median is a reminder that a month is a short time. A median can drop a tenth in a month because of a different mix of sales and recover the next.

For a seller the practical point is that a fast market rewards preparation and punishes a wrong price in either direction. A price set too high loses the first weeks, which are the best weeks. A price set too low gives away the premium that the pages describe. A private buyer removes the need to guess, because the sale does not depend on a bidding contest in the first week.

Sources as cited. Year-earlier values and dollar figures are computed from the published percentages.

What do per-foot prices and counts say about Lincoln Park?

Per-foot prices reduce the size effect. Redfin shows $493 per square foot, up 10.4%, which implies about $447 a year earlier. Realtor.com shows $472 for the postal area, up 6.54%, and $449 for the neighborhood in March, up 1.13%. The Redfin figure is 4.4% above the postal area figure and 9.8% above the March neighborhood figure, computed here. The rise in the per-foot price is smaller than the rise in the median on every page, 10.4% against 24.2% on Redfin. That gap points to a mix effect, in which larger or house-type homes made up more of the sales. It is an inference.

A condominium and a house can sell at the same price per foot and still differ by hundreds of thousands of dollars in price, because the house has more feet. In a postal area where only 10.6% of homes are detached and 8.6% attached, a median across all types is mostly a median of apartments and small buildings. An owner of a house should look at houses.

Rentals add a view of the other side. Realtor.com shows 637 rental listings in the postal area, up 4.76%, and a median rent of $2,795, up 15.26%. The neighborhood page showed 531 rentals in March, down 21.37%, and a rent of $2,527, up 8.69%. Rising rents with falling rental counts in March and rising counts in September are signs of a rental market that is tight but busy. The Census median rent of $2,030 is lower than all of these, because it includes long leases at older rates.

Three-year changes from the March neighborhood page add history. The listing median is up 10.01% over three years, the per-foot price up 11.97%, active listings down 53.73% and days on market down 37.93%. A market with far fewer listings than three years ago and faster sales is a market in which sellers have had the upper hand for some time. That is Realtor.com's figure for one month, but it fits the Redfin view.

For a seller the useful habit is to look at three things for a home like theirs: the closed prices of the last several comparable sales, the asking prices of homes still listed and the days those homes have been listed. These say more than a median. A private buyer looks at the same facts for one property, and can make an offer on that property alone.

Sources as cited. Year-earlier values and ratios are computed from the published percentages.

What do renters, buildings and owner costs say about the postal area?

The Census describes a dense, rented place. The postal area that includes Lincoln Park has 38,918 housing units and 70,693 residents. Of the units, 12,093 are in buildings of fifty or more units, which is 31.1%, and 4,256 more are in buildings of twenty to forty-nine, so 42.0% of homes are in buildings of twenty or more. Buildings of three to four units hold 5,907, five to nine hold 5,278, and two-unit buildings hold 1,633. Detached houses are 4,137, which is 10.6%, and attached houses are 3,336, 8.6%. Only 19.2% of homes are houses of any kind.

Most homes are rented. Of 35,386 occupied homes, 19,772 are rented, which is 55.9%, and 15,614 are owner-occupied, 44.1%. Renters live in small homes: 58.0% of rented homes have one bedroom or none, against 53.1% of owner-occupied homes that have three or more. Across all homes, 39.3% have one bedroom or none and 31.1% have three or more. The median household income is $136,448 and the median build year is 1971, and 62.8% of homes were built before 1980.

The people are young. Of 70,693 residents, 31.0% are between 25 and 34, 14.8% between 18 and 24, 12.4% between 35 and 44, 18.2% between 45 and 64, 14.1% under 18 and 9.4% are 65 or older, computed here. Renter turnover is fast: 63.9% of renter households moved in since 2020. Owners are steadier, with 26.2% moved in since 2020, 41.7% between 2010 and 2019, 13.9% between 2000 and 2009 and 18.2% before 2000.

Rent burden is heavy for a high-income area. Of 19,772 renter households, 19,444 have a computed burden, and 7,547 of those pay 30% or more of income in rent, which is 38.8%, and 3,142 pay half or more, 16.2%. Owner burdens are lighter. Of 10,502 owners with a mortgage, 10,476 have a computed burden, and 2,246 pay 30% or more, which is 21.4%, with 1,057 paying half or more, 10.1%. Of 5,112 owners without a mortgage, 4,863 have a computed burden, and 1,065 pay 30% or more, 21.9%.

Vacancy is 9.1%, which is 3,532 units. Of those, 1,305 are for rent, 36.9% of vacant units, 964 are seasonal, 2.5% of all units, 659 are classed as other vacant, 18.7%, 203 are for sale only and 128 are sold and not yet occupied. A neighborhood with this many rentals and this much turnover may have a steady supply of future buyers leaving rentals, and the owner of a house or a small building is selling to a pool that mostly lives in apartments. Readers comparing markets can also read the Hinsdale brief and the Lakeview brief.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates, tables B25024, B25041, B25042, B25004, B25070, B25091, B25038 and B01001, via Census Reporter. Shares are computed here.

What should an owner ask, and what does a private sale change?

Five questions are worth asking before choosing how to sell. The first is what similar homes nearby actually sold for, because a median is not a price. The second is how long the sale will take and what it costs to wait. The third is what the fees will be. The fourth is how much of the price survives the buyer's inspection. The fifth is who will see the house and who will know it is for sale.

Fees are simple arithmetic and no rate is assumed here. Each 1% of a $450,000 sale is $4,500, of a $725,000 sale is $7,250 and of a $1,200,000 sale is $12,000. Three percent is $13,500, $21,750 and $36,000, and five percent is $22,500, $36,250 and $60,000. A seller can put their own quoted costs into those rows. With the pages showing homes selling at or above list, the fee is the largest known cost a seller can compare, and 1% of the Redfin median of $894,068 is $8,941.

Inspection is the fourth question. With a median build year of 1971 and 62.8% of homes built before 1980, a buyer's inspector is likely to find work in many buildings. In a market with multiple offers, buyers sometimes waive contingencies, as Redfin notes, and a seller who relies on that may be disappointed in a slower month. A buyer who agrees to buy the home as it stands removes the question in any month.

Privacy is the fifth question. A public listing in a dense neighborhood puts photographs of the inside of the home online, brings strangers through it and tells every neighbor that a sale is under way. In a postal area where most residents are renters or recent arrivals, an owner who has lived on a block for decades may care a good deal about that. A private sale does not announce itself.

The benefits are plain. Maison Off-Market buys luxury homes and estates directly from their owners and speaks only to sellers. A private sale has no showings and no neighbors talking about it. It allows closing dates that give a seller time to find a new home. It has no commission costs and no closing costs, and it avoids inspection repairs. The company does not say that a private sale always beats a public listing, and in a market where one page shows $894,068 and another $808,000, an owner is right to ask what each route yields. If you would like a private, no-obligation offer for a home in Lincoln Park, call 401-219-4207 or use the contact form on this site.

Sources as cited. Fee illustrations are arithmetic only and assume no commission rate.

Methodology and limitations

Each page's date, title and place were read before use. The Redfin page is for the three months ending August 2026, the Realtor.com postal area page is for September 2026 and the Realtor.com neighborhood page is for March 2026, so they cover different periods, and the neighborhood page does not give a sold median. The Zillow page is titled 2025 and shows no update date in the text read here, so it is context only. A Redfin page for a different place with a similar name was set aside. Only established data publishers and the Census are cited. The Census figures are five-year estimates for the postal area that includes Lincoln Park. Percent changes were taken as printed, and ratios, sums, fee figures and year-earlier values are this brief's arithmetic.

Conclusion

The record for Lincoln Park shows sold medians of $808,000 and $894,068, sale-to-list ratios of 100% to 103.9%, 26 to 37 days on market, and a postal area where 55.9% of homes are rented and only 19.2% are houses. The useful number for an owner is a closed sale of a similar property nearby, not a median, and a private buyer can price the property in front of them.