Home Values On Rebound After Real Estate Bubble Burst--But Not Everywhere

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Recovery is in the air for home values, but not in every neighborhood.

CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez crunched the numbers by ZIP code to find out where home values are up and where they're down.

"We're seeing the recovery really take flight," Rebecca Thomson of At Properties says.

That prompted John Aitken to put his Irving Park house up for sale.

What did they have to say about the environment for sellers?

"That it was kind of a sellers market because there's not a lot of inventory out there," Aitken says.

Data from Zillow shows homes in Aitken's 60618 ZIP code are up 30 percent since 2012, the year the Chicago market hit rock bottom.

"It was shocking what houses were going for," Aitken said.

Just a couple of blocks away in 60641, Old Irving saw the greatest gain with home values up 40 percent over the same time period.

In other areas, growth is slow.

Parts of Wrigleyville and Buena Park in ZIP code 60613, are up only 7 percent according to Zillow, which is about the same increase found in Auburn Gresham.

We looked at the properties that have increased the least, and Wrigleyville is in the top 10.

That surprised realtor Mark Zipperer. "Wrigleyville is a strong neighborhood," he said.

But, Alex Stegh, the owner of a Buena Park condo, was not worried.

"We were feeling comfortable enough to put our condo on the market," he said.

He paid $342,000 for in 2010, and it sold in two days for $380,000.

In the suburbs, the Zillow data shows Cicero as a bright spot, with values up 45.9 percent since 2012.

But ZIP code 60432 in Joliet is down 19.3 percent.

Still, the city is confident of a resurrection.

"We're trying to reinforce that sense of comfort and safety ... and make it a desirable place to live," Joliet City Manager Jim Hock said.

Rebecca Thomson, treasurer with the Chicago Association of Realtors, said Zillow's numbers are "not necessarily based on the actual market data."

She says their data points to other hot neighborhoods.

"We've seen areas like Hyde Park, South Shore, Bronzeville really seeing huge growth. Over 2012 property values they're up 150 percent in some cases," Thomson said.

Still struggling: Printers Row and the South Loop.

"We saw very high numbers of short sales and foreclosures there," Thomson said.

But, she says there's good reason for optimism everywhere.

"So property values have stabilized; they are appreciating. I think that is the universal truth."

CITY OF CHICAGO HOME VALUES BY ZIP

SUBURBAN, NW INDIANA HOME VALUES BY ZIP