12912 W. Peoria St. sold for $60,000 on April 11. The Cook County Assessor says that home is worth almost twice that amount. | Zillow
12912 W. Peoria St. sold for $60,000 on April 11. The Cook County Assessor says that home is worth almost twice that amount. | Zillow
Editor's Note: The Cook County Assessor has responded to this story.
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West Pullman, on Chicago’s far south side, has two real estate markets.
There’s the actual market, set by what buyers will pay and what sellers will accept.
And there’s the government one, with home values dictated by Cook County Assessor’s office. That set of numbers is used to calculate property taxes.
The difference between the two explains how a four bedroom, red brick bungalow at 12252 S. State Street that sold for $39,000 on April 4 could have a property tax bill of $2,219, or an effective property tax rate of 5.7 percent, nearly six times the national average.
Cook County’s Assessor says the home is worth several times more-- $147,070.
On the south side of West Pullman, steps from the Little Calumet River, which sets Chicago’s southern city limits, a three bedroom home at 12912 W. Peoria St. sold for $60,000 on April 11. The assessor says that home is worth almost twice that amount-- $108,210.
A white vintage farmhouse at 310 W. 116th Street, 13 blocks north, sold the same day for $9,000; the assessor says it is worth ten times that, or $95,660.
These aren’t typos, or even aberrations.
In West Pullman and across Chicago’s South Side, an analysis by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire, found inflated government valuations of homes are the norm.
An analysis of the last ten West Pullman home sales by LGIS found nine of the ten were overvalued by the assessor-- five by more than 250 percent.
On average, their official assessor values were 75.4 percent higher than their actual values.
In dollar figures: the homes sold for a collective $607,000; the assessor valued them at $1,064,640.
Property tax rates five times the national average
To be fair, keeping up with the real estate market in West Pullman or any of the 44 South Side neighborhoods analyzed by LGIS is like catching a falling knife.
From 2007 to 2015, home values fell substantially in all of them.
The South Loop (down 15 percent) and Chinatown (down 18 percent) fared best; Englewood (down 87 percent), West Englewood (down 86 percent), Riverdale/Altgeld Gardens (down 84 percent) and Back of the Yards (down 83 percent fared worst.
In 25 of the 44 neighborhoods, home values were cut by half or more between 2007 and 2015. In 39 of the 44-- they fell by more than 30 percent.
Median home values in West Pullman fell 78 percent, from $142,875 in 2007 (inflation-adjusted) to just $31,000 in 2015. It is one of 19 South Side neighborhoods where the median sale price of a home has fallen below $75,000.
The average effective property tax rate in those communities: 4.37 percent, or more than twice the state average and nearly five times the average nationally.
Riverdale/Altgeld Gardens has the lowest median sale price on the South Side-- $15,000 in 2015, down from $96,012 in 2007. Its property tax rate: 6.52 percent, or $978 per year on a median-priced home. That’s $81.50 per month in taxes on a typical mortgage, more than a principal and interest payment of $57.
Beverly, Mount Greenwood see taxes double
No neighborhood has been spared.
In Beverly, the oasis for connected government workers, with rolling hills and elegant mansions on the city’s far southwest edge, the median sale price fell to $275,000 in 2015 from $360,045 in 2007. In nearby Mt. Greenwood, home to legions of Chicago police and firefighters, it fell to $209,250 from $274,320.
Effective property tax rates in both rose significantly, nearly doubling over the term. But property taxes in both communities, long protected by political clout, are still very low by Chicagoland standards, hovering around 1.60 percent, below the state average of 2.13 percent.
The same cannot be said for South Side neighborhoods with less clout.
While property values have fallen, property taxes have continued to rise in most South Side communities.
In Hegewisch, where the median sale price of a home fell to $90,000 in 2015, from $171,450 in 2007, the median property tax bill rose 66 percent, from $1,136 to $1,890.
In Washington Heights, home values were cut by two-thirds over the period, from $154,305 to $51,750. Property tax bills rose-- from $1,114 to $1,672.
Effective property tax rates have never been higher.
In fifteen South Side communities, they are now higher than three percent; in nine, they are higher than four percent.
In Englewood, where median property tax bills rose from $1,367 in 2007 to $1,720 in 2015, while median home prices fell from $172,022 to just $23,500, the effective rate is now 7.32 percent.
In South Chicago, median tax bills are now $2,038, up from $1,305. Median home values fell over the same period to just $35,000 from $177,165 in 2007. Effective tax rates in 2015 were 5.82 percent.
In 22 of 45 South Side neighborhoods, property taxes today are higher than the state average. That’s even though residential homeowners in Cook County’s unique property tax system are favored, responsible for funding only half of the local government spending that what they would in any collar county.
That means that as residential property values fall, Chicago’s tax burden shifts even more heavily upon businesses, which already pay the highest property taxes in the U.S.
The problem: when taxes mean they cannot make ends meet, businesses are quicker to leave the county and the state. A 2013 study by La Salle Bank found more than 500,000 Chicagoans living in what it called "food deserts," or communities where property taxes are so high as to making operating a grocery store uneconomic.
Chicago's biggest "Home Equity Desert"
LGIS projected South Side home values and property taxes paid by 2023, if the next eight years prove like the past eight.
The numbers are startling.
In 20 of 44 South Side neighborhoods, the median homeowner in 2023 will have paid his full 2023 home value once already in property taxes over the previous sixteen years. In 13 communities, homeowners will have paid for their homes three times and in seven, more than four times.
In Englewood, where median home prices are projected to fall to just $3,210, a homeowner will have paid $27,525 in property taxes over the previous sixteen years-- more than eight times its value.
Of course, buyers in such markets-- and today's-- aren't locals buying their dream homes. They are increasingly all investors who plan to rent the homes out to tenants who receive Section 8 vouchers from the federal government, which typically cover 70 percent or more of their monthly payment.
Median Sale Price, 2007 to 2015
LGIS analyzed median home sale prices in 44 neighborhoods on Chicago's South Side between 2007 and 2015.
| Neighborhood | 2007 Median Sale Price | 2015 Median Sale Price | % Change |
| West Englewood | $135,000 | $20,750 | -86.6% |
| Englewood | $150,500 | $23,500 | -86.3% |
| Riverdale/Altgeld Gardens | $84,000 | $15,000 | -84.4% |
| Back of the Yards | $183,500 | $36,000 | -82.8% |
| South Deering | $115,000 | $25,000 | -81.0% |
| South Chicago | $155,000 | $35,000 | -80.2% |
| Greater Grand Crossing | $180,000 | $42,000 | -79.6% |
| West Pullman | $125,000 | $31,000 | -78.3% |
| Washington Park | $198,000 | $50,500 | -77.7% |
| Roseland/Pullman | $135,000 | $36,000 | -76.7% |
| Woodlawn | $232,500 | $71,750 | -73.0% |
| Gresham | $170,000 | $52,500 | -73.0% |
| Burnside | $156,500 | $49,500 | -72.3% |
| South Shore | $178,000 | $58,500 | -71.2% |
| Chicago Lawn | $220,000 | $73,500 | -70.8% |
| Washington Heights | $135,000 | $51,750 | -66.5% |
| Chatham | $173,250 | $70,000 | -64.7% |
| Marquette Park | $195,500 | $80,000 | -64.2% |
| Calumet Heights | $170,000 | $72,000 | -62.9% |
| Brainerd | $155,000 | $69,750 | -60.6% |
| Gage Park | $225,000 | $104,500 | -59.4% |
| Bronzeville | $273,750 | $132,000 | -57.8% |
| East Side | $163,500 | $80,000 | -57.2% |
| Canaryville/Fuller Park | $219,000 | $112,250 | -55.2% |
| Brighton Park | $250,000 | $130,000 | -54.5% |
| Hegewisch | $150,000 | $90,000 | -47.5% |
| West Elsdon | $245,000 | $150,000 | -46.4% |
| West Lawn | $245,250 | $153,000 | -45.4% |
| Wrightwood | $205,000 | $128,500 | -45.2% |
| Ashburn | $203,000 | $129,000 | -44.4% |
| Oakland | $223,500 | $145,500 | -43.0% |
| Clearing | $225,000 | $152,500 | -40.7% |
| Archer Heights | $257,500 | $175,000 | -40.5% |
| Kenwood | $357,500 | $250,500 | -38.7% |
| Scottsdale | $211,250 | $149,750 | -38.0% |
| Garfield Ridge | $253,000 | $190,000 | -34.3% |
| Hyde Park | $239,500 | $184,000 | -32.8% |
| McKinley Park | $271,463 | $183,000 | -32.6% |
| Morgan Park | $180,000 | $141,000 | -31.5% |
| Mount Greenwood | $240,000 | $209,250 | -23.7% |
| Beverly | $315,000 | $275,000 | -23.6% |
| Bridgeport | $300,000 | $269,500 | -21.4% |
| Chinatown | $241,000 | $226,500 | -17.8% |
| South Loop | $318,000 | $309,250 | -14.9% |
Source: Cook County Recorder of Deeds and Blockshopper.com; 2007 median sale prices inflation-adjusted.
Median Property Tax Bill, 2007 to 2015
LGIS analyzed median property tax bills in 44 neighborhoods on Chicago's South Side between 2007 and 2015.
| Neighborhood | 2007 Median Property Tax | 2015 Median Property Tax | % Change |
| Hegewisch | $1,136 | $1,890 | 66.4% |
| Mount Greenwood | $2,087 | $3,413 | 63.6% |
| Bridgeport | $2,821 | $4,596 | 62.9% |
| McKinley Park | $2,040 | $3,310 | 62.3% |
| Brainerd | $1,156 | $1,811 | 56.7% |
| South Chicago | $1,305 | $2,038 | 56.2% |
| Beverly | $2,832 | $4,388 | 54.9% |
| Canaryville/Fuller Park | $1,762 | $2,724 | 54.5% |
| Washington Heights | $1,114 | $1,672 | 50.1% |
| Burnside | $1,216 | $1,820 | 49.6% |
| Gresham | $1,232 | $1,818 | 47.6% |
| Calumet Heights | $1,299 | $1,915 | 47.4% |
| South Deering | $899 | $1,317 | 46.5% |
| Morgan Park | $1,699 | $2,484 | 46.3% |
| West Pullman | $1,048 | $1,481 | 41.3% |
| Chinatown | $2,575 | $3,596 | 39.6% |
| Chatham | $1,479 | $2,062 | 39.5% |
| East Side | $1,216 | $1,696 | 39.4% |
| Roseland/Pullman | $1,182 | $1,628 | 37.7% |
| Greater Grand Crossing | $1,593 | $2,187 | 37.3% |
| West Englewood | $966 | $1,295 | 34.0% |
| Riverdale/Altgeld Gardens | $754 | $978 | 29.7% |
| Wrightwood | $1,689 | $2,184 | 29.3% |
| Scottsdale | $1,791 | $2,309 | 28.9% |
| South Loop | $3,184 | $4,044 | 27.0% |
| Ashburn | $1,608 | $2,035 | 26.5% |
| South Shore | $1,601 | $2,021 | 26.2% |
| Englewood | $1,367 | $1,720 | 25.9% |
| Archer Heights | $2,081 | $2,609 | 25.4% |
| Garfield Ridge | $2,195 | $2,732 | 24.5% |
| Brighton Park | $2,197 | $2,728 | 24.2% |
| Back of the Yards | $1,536 | $1,905 | 24.0% |
| Clearing | $2,137 | $2,611 | 22.2% |
| Marquette Park | $1,666 | $2,026 | 21.6% |
| Hyde Park | $2,102 | $2,494 | 18.7% |
| West Lawn | $2,084 | $2,468 | 18.4% |
| Gage Park | $1,619 | $1,901 | 17.4% |
| West Elsdon | $2,002 | $2,345 | 17.1% |
| Chicago Lawn | $1,683 | $1,946 | 15.6% |
| Woodlawn | $2,349 | $2,693 | 14.7% |
| Kenwood | $3,440 | $3,713 | 8.0% |
| Bronzeville | $2,954 | $2,922 | -1.1% |
| Washington Park | $2,587 | $1,864 | -28.0% |
| Oakland | $1,779 | $1,208 | -32.1% |
Source: Cook County Treasurer and Blockshopper.com
Effective Property Tax Rates, 2007 to 2015
LGIS analyzed effective property tax rates in 44 neighborhoods on Chicago's South Side between 2007 and 2015. The rate is calculated by dividing the median property tax bill by the median home sale price.
| Neighborhood | 2007 Effective Property Tax Rate | 2015 Effective Property Tax Rate | % Change |
| Englewood | 0.91% | 7.32% | 706.2% |
| Riverdale/Altgeld Gardens | 0.90% | 6.52% | 626.5% |
| West Englewood | 0.72% | 6.24% | 771.9% |
| South Chicago | 0.84% | 5.82% | 591.8% |
| Back of the Yards | 0.84% | 5.29% | 532.0% |
| South Deering | 0.78% | 5.27% | 574.1% |
| Greater Grand Crossing | 0.88% | 5.21% | 488.3% |
| West Pullman | 0.84% | 4.78% | 469.9% |
| Roseland/Pullman | 0.88% | 4.52% | 416.4% |
| Woodlawn | 1.01% | 3.75% | 271.5% |
| Washington Park | 1.31% | 3.69% | 182.4% |
| Burnside | 0.78% | 3.68% | 372.9% |
| Gresham | 0.72% | 3.46% | 377.8% |
| South Shore | 0.90% | 3.45% | 284.0% |
| Washington Heights | 0.83% | 3.23% | 291.5% |
| Chatham | 0.85% | 2.95% | 245.2% |
| Calumet Heights | 0.76% | 2.66% | 248.1% |
| Chicago Lawn | 0.77% | 2.65% | 246.1% |
| Brainerd | 0.75% | 2.60% | 248.1% |
| Marquette Park | 0.85% | 2.53% | 197.1% |
| Canaryville/Fuller Park | 0.80% | 2.43% | 201.5% |
| Bronzeville | 1.08% | 2.21% | 105.1% |
| East Side | 0.74% | 2.12% | 184.9% |
| Hegewisch | 0.76% | 2.10% | 177.3% |
| Brighton Park | 0.88% | 2.10% | 138.9% |
| Gage Park | 0.72% | 1.82% | 152.7% |
| McKinley Park | 0.86% | 1.81% | 111% |
| Morgan Park | 0.94% | 1.76% | 86.7% |
| Clearing | 0.95% | 1.71% | 80.2% |
| Bridgeport | 0.94% | 1.71% | 81.3% |
| Wrightwood | 0.82% | 1.70% | 106.3% |
| Mount Greenwood | 0.87% | 1.63% | 87.6% |
| West Lawn | 0.85% | 1.61% | 89.8% |
| Beverly | 0.90% | 1.60% | 77.5% |
| Chinatown | 1.07% | 1.59% | 48.6% |
| Ashburn | 0.79% | 1.58% | 99.1% |
| West Elsdon | 0.82% | 1.56% | 91.3% |
| Scottsdale | 0.85% | 1.54% | 81.8% |
| Archer Heights | 0.81% | 1.49% | 84.5% |
| Kenwood | 0.96% | 1.48% | 54.1% |
| Garfield Ridge | 0.87% | 1.44% | 65.8% |
| Hyde Park | 0.88% | 1.36% | 54.4% |
| South Loop | 1.00% | 1.31% | 30.6% |
| Oakland | 0.80% | 0.83% | 4.3% |
Sources: Cook County Recorder of Deeds, Cook County Treasurer and Blockshopper.com
Projected Median Sale Price, 2023
If the next eight years are like the last eight for real estate, LGIS projected median sale prices in 44 neighborhoods on Chicago's South Side in 2023. How much will the median homeowner have paid in property taxes between 2015 and 2023?
| Neighborhood | 2015 Median Sale Price | 2023 Median Sale Price (Proj.) | Property Taxes Paid, 2007 - 2023 | % Paid of 2023 Median |
| Englewood | $23,500 | $3,210 | $27,525 | 857.4% |
| Riverdale/Altgeld Gardens | $15,000 | $2,343 | $15,648 | 667.7% |
| West Englewood | $20,750 | $2,790 | $20,715 | 742.4% |
| Back of the Yards | $36,000 | $6,179 | $30,479 | 493,3% |
| South Chicago | $35,000 | $6,914 | $32,614 | 471.7% |
| South Deering | $25,000 | $4,755 | $21,075 | 443.2% |
| Greater Grand Crossing | $42,000 | $8,574 | $34,985 | 408.0% |
| West Pullman | $31,000 | $6,726 | $23,696 | 352.3% |
| Roseland/Pullman | $36,000 | $8,399 | $26,052 | 310.2% |
| Washington Park | $50,500 | $11,269 | $29,818 | 264.6% |
| Woodlawn | $71,750 | $19,372 | $43,090 | 222.4% |
| Burnside | $49,500 | $13,698 | $29,114 | 212.5% |
| Gresham | $52,500 | $14,185 | $29,085 | 205.0% |
| South Shore | $58,500 | $16,821 | $32,330 | 192.2% |
| Washington Heights | $51,750 | $17,356 | $26,760 | 154.2% |
| Chicago Lawn | $73,500 | $21,484 | $31,142 | 145.0% |
| Chatham | $70,000 | $24,744 | $32,994 | 133.3% |
| Calumet Heights | $72,000 | $26,679 | $30,645 | 114.9% |
| Marquette Park | $80,000 | $28,641 | $32,413 | 113.2% |
| Brainerd | $69,750 | $27,461 | $28,980 | 105.5% |
| Canaryville/Fuller Park | $112,250 | $50,336 | $43,577 | 86.6% |
| Bronzeville | $132,000 | $55,686 | $46,755 | 84.0% |
| East Side | $80,000 | $34,246 | $27,131 | 79.2% |
| Brighton Park | $130,000 | $59,143 | $43,655 | 73.8% |
| Gage Park | $104,500 | $42,462 | $30,409 | 71.6% |
| Hegewisch | $90,000 | $47,244 | $30,243 | 64.0% |
| Wrightwood | $128,500 | $70,470 | $34,947 | 49.6% |
| West Lawn | $153,000 | $83,508 | $39,484 | 47.3% |
| West Elsdon | $150,000 | $80,347 | $37,524 | 46.7% |
| Clearing | $152,500 | $90,430 | $41,773 | 46.2% |
| Ashburn | $129,000 | $71,719 | $32,560 | 45.4% |
| McKinley Park | $183,000 | $123,365 | $52,964 | 42.9% |
| Morgan Park | $141,500 | $96,632 | $39,750 | 41.1% |
| Archer Heights | $175,000 | $104,053 | $41,750 | 40.1% |
| Scottsdale | $149,750 | $92,873 | $36,945 | 39.8% |
| Kenwood | $250,500 | $153,565 | $59,415 | 38.7% |
| Garfield Ridge | $190,000 | $124,836 | $43,711 | 35.0% |
| Bridgeport | $269,500 | $211,812 | $73,533 | 34.7% |
| Mount Greenwood | $209,250 | $159,615 | $54,614 | 34.2% |
| Beverly | $275,000 | $210,043 | $70,203 | 33.4% |
| Hyde Park | $184,000 | $123,676 | $39,901 | 32.3% |
| Chinatown | $226,500 | $186,240 | $57,541 | 30.9% |
| South Loop | $309,250 | $263,115 | $64,701 | 24.6% |
| Oakland | $145,500 | $82,871 | $19,330 | 23.3% |
Sources: Cook County Recorder of Deeds, Cook County Treasurer and Blockshopper.com.
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