Forbes recently took a look at six popular housing markets in the Midwest, and two Chicago neighborhoods made the cut. Logan Square and the West Loop were both noted for their increasing home sale prices, a surefire indicator of homebuyer interest. Let’s take a deeper look at why both neighborhoods are garnering so much homebuyer attention.

Logan Square

Homes in Logan Square

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The median sale price for a house in Logan Square is $396,500, and homes are not lingering for very long on the market, according to the Forbes report. Logan Square has a collection of single-family homes and attached homes, many of which come with historic charm. Even if you can’t snag a historic home on the enviable, tree-lined Logan Boulevard, new condo buildings are popping up in the neighborhood to accommodate eager homebuyers. 

Forbes also notes how Logan Square’s restaurant and bar scene makes the neighborhood an appealing place to call home. Up and down Milwaukee Avenue, you can find breweries, bars, coffee shops, taco joints, pizza places, a ramen shop, and more. And that’s just on Milwaukee Avenue. Logan Square is also home to other major streets like Fullerton Avenue and California Avenue, each with their own hodgepodge of places to eat and drink. Living in Logan Square means you can dine somewhere different every night of the week and then some.

As Logan Square’s reputation for its beautiful homes and younger crowds grows, waves of change inevitably come in the form of new development. The North Side neighborhood is not only getting new residential development, but it’s also getting a boutique hotel, a major renovation to its iconic but long defunct Congress Theater, and losing a longstanding landmark (the Mega Mall at the corner of Milwaukee and Sacramento avenues) in favor of a brand new, mixed-use project.  

West Loop

Homes in West Loop

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The West Loop is making all sorts of headlines with new skyscraper proposals, office building plans, and a seriously delicious food scene. The median sale price in the neighborhood is $450,000, and it wasn’t nearly that high even six years ago, according to the Forbes report.

The pure convenience of the neighborhood’s location is a major factor of its attraction. The West Loop is right downtown, plus it has easy access to two major highways (I-90 and I-290). Residents can easily walk to nearby neighborhoods like the Loop and River North, and if you don’t feel like taking a stroll to your destination, you can easily catch a CTA bus in the West Loop.

A convenient location is just one of the pieces of the puzzle. There are plenty of nightlife options that’ll keep you entertained without setting a toe outside the neighborhood. The West Loop contains the smaller neighborhood of Fulton Market, which is home to Randolph Street’s Restaurant Row. This always busy strip is crowded with one delicious restaurant after another.

A lot of the homebuyers scoping out the West Loop have a taste for luxury, and developers are clamoring to meet the demand with luxury, boutique condo projects like 900 W and Hayden West Loop.