River Forest's Two Housing Markets: Why Condo Prices Have Barely Moved While Single-Family Sales Set Records

A buyer touring River Forest last month saw a two-bedroom condo on Ashland Avenue at $333,900 and a six-bedroom modern farmhouse a few blocks north at $2.15 million. The gap is not surprising. What is surprising is that both prices are roughly where they were two years ago on one side of that gap, and dramatically higher on the other.

The village runs on two housing markets that share a zip code and almost nothing else. Treating them as one market is the most common pricing mistake we see, on both sides of the closing table. The thesis of this post is simple: the single-family curve and the condo curve are moving on different engines, and the mechanics of a Cook County reassessment year make the divergence wider, not narrower.

The reassessment just landed, and it does not touch both sides equally

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi's office released initial assessments for River Forest Township on April 20, 2026, with appeals due June 2 and the resulting values flowing through to second-installment tax bills in 2027. That is the transaction-relevant fact for anyone writing an offer this summer. The buyer inherits the reassessment. The seller does not.

For single-family homes, the assessor's own workbook put the 2025 median sale price at $900,000 and the assessor's median market value estimate at $918,000, which are close enough that most owner-occupants will not see a shock. For condo buyers, the mechanics are different. A condo owner's share of the building's assessed value moves with the building, and any special assessment already on the books rides along with the deed. Two units in the same building can look identical on paper and price very differently once you read the HOA minutes.

What the two price curves actually look like

Single-family sales in River Forest have posted the kind of numbers that make headlines in neighboring communities. The Forest Park Review reported in April that River Forest's 2024 median sale price rose 24 percent to $980,000, while Oak Park climbed roughly 19 percent to $623,000 and the broader Chicago metro added about 8 percent on single-family homes. Redfin's August 2025 read had the River Forest single-family median sale at $805,000 with a 12.9 percent gain in price per square foot year over year. Movoto's June 2026 read had list prices at $665,000 with a median 27 days on market. The specific numbers move month to month. The direction has been consistent for six quarters.

The condo curve tells a different story:

A two-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot condo at 410 Ashland listed in spring 2026 at $333,900. That is roughly $167 per square foot. The Chatterton building next door at 407-411 Ashland, 56 units built between 1968 and 1978, has recent list prices averaging in the high $380s with HOA dues in the $467 to $571 range. Compare that to the $281 per square foot Redfin recorded for River Forest single-family sales in August 2025 and the gap is not a rounding error. It is the market saying two different things about two different products.

Why the condo curve stays flat

Three mechanisms hold River Forest condo values in place while the single-family stock keeps climbing.

The first is the age of the buildings. Most of the desirable elevator condos in the village were built between the late 1950s and the late 1970s. That vintage is now cycling through capital-project decisions on facades, elevators, plumbing risers, and parking decks. Special assessments and HOA increases are already priced into what buyers will pay for a resale unit, which caps appreciation for the seller even when the underlying square footage is genuinely appealing.

The second is the buyer pool. Owner-occupants who want to be in River Forest overwhelmingly want a single-family home on a tree-lined block near Lincoln Elementary or Roosevelt Middle. The condo buyer is a different profile with different anchors: a downsizer trading square footage for lock-and-leave simplicity, a first-time buyer priced out of the single-family stock, or an investor running a rental math problem. Those three buyers do not bid against each other with much intensity.

The third is what the village is choosing to build. When V3 Companies proposed a 72-unit development on the south end of Madison Street, Wednesday Journal reported in March 2026 that the village had specifically requested a project that would maximize tax revenue. Rental apartment buildings of that size are assessed on an income approach that produces a larger tax bill than a comparable condominium, in part because no homeowner exemptions apply. The practical consequence for the condo resale market is that new inventory in that price band is arriving as rentals rather than for-sale product. Supply of new condos stays flat. The resale stock competes with itself.

The number that should shape your offer

If you are buying single-family in River Forest this summer, the number to focus on is not the median. It is the assessor's market value estimate for the specific address, sitting a few thousand dollars above the 2025 sale median. Second-installment 2027 tax bills will reflect the new assessment. Ask your agent to model the tax line into the monthly carry before you decide on your ceiling.

If you are buying a condo, the number to focus on is not the list price. It is the reserve balance and the last three years of board minutes. A $199,000 headline can become a $220,000 out-the-door number with one active special assessment, and the buyer inherits every dollar of it. That is not a reason to avoid the segment. Condos in the 60305 corridor genuinely offer walking access to the Green Line, Metra, and the Lake Street business district. It is a reason to underwrite them with the same rigor a landlord would.

How to read this before writing an offer

1. Pull the property's reassessment notice from the assessor's site before you set your maximum. The June 2 appeal window has closed, but the number is public and it will drive the 2027 tax line.
2. For a condo, request the current reserve study, the last three years of board minutes, and any pending special assessment in writing. A clean answer is worth real money.
3. For a single-family home, benchmark price per square foot against sold comps rather than active listings. The August 2025 River Forest single-family figure ran around $281, and comps at that number are honest.
4. Ask about the V3 Madison Street timeline if you are shopping the south end of the village. The rental supply that project adds affects both nearby single-family owners and small condo buildings, though in opposite directions.
5. If you are moving from a Chicago condo into a River Forest single-family, budget for the tax step-up separately from the price step-up. The two numbers compound.

Short answers to questions we hear on tours

Is now a good time to buy a condo in River Forest? It can be, if you underwrite the HOA and reserves the way a lender underwrites you. The segment has not participated in the appreciation the single-family stock has captured, which means less upside from market drift and more sensitivity to the specifics of the building.

Will the reassessment affect what my current home is worth? The reassessment does not directly change market value. It changes the tax line a future buyer will inherit, which can influence what buyers are willing to bid. Talk with your agent about how to position pricing in a reassessment year rather than assuming the two numbers move together.

Why did River Forest single-family prices climb so much faster than Oak Park's? Inventory in River Forest is genuinely thin. DePaul's Institute for Housing Studies projected roughly 5 percent price growth across the Chicago metro through 2026, and River Forest has been running ahead of that pace because a small number of transactions on a small number of blocks can move the median in a way that a larger market cannot.

Are there new condos being built in River Forest? Very few. The Madison Street proposal that has drawn the most attention is a rental building, not a for-sale one, and the village's stated preference for revenue-maximizing development means the near-term pipeline favors apartments over condominiums.

River Forest rewards buyers who read the two markets as two markets. If you are trying to decide which side of the divide fits your household, or how to price a home you already own into a reassessment year, ZK Group is happy to walk the numbers with you. Schedule a consultation and bring the specific address. That is where the interesting conversation starts.