On the bank of Lake Michigan, Chicago seems an odd place to build a city. The "lake effect" weather intensifies the hot summers and cold winters, and the "Windy City" is well named for the gusts that buffet its citizens. Climate and geography notwithstanding, Chicago is a city that keeps growing and changing with the times. Once known for its meat-packing industry, Chicago is now nearly as popular a home for aspiring actors and models as Los Angeles--and reputed to be much more friendly to independent film than Hollywood.

As far as its economy is concerned, Chicago is rather unremarkable. Home prices, job forecasts, and average incomes are all around the national average, although taxes are slightly higher than in other parts of the country. With a very diverse economic base, perhaps most strongly grounded in the health care industry, Chicago's economy is buffered from any abrupt changes or shocks.

Looking for a Home in Chicago

Home prices in Chicago are about average for the country as a whole, and quite reasonable for a city its size. The one concern is that Chicago's population is seeing nearly no growth, and as a result the city has a very low appreciation rate on real estate. However, this is a small worry when faced with the assurance of Chicago's stable economy.

If looking for a HUD home in Chicago, you can probably find some good deals. However, there are unsavory areas of Chicago, and it would be wise to make sure that a home you are looking at is in a good neighborhood. While the city's home appreciation rate is low on average, there are neighborhoods where a higher home price may well be worth the greater increase of value in the future.