By Aidan Sowa · October 2026 · Elmhurst, IllinoisThe Elmhurst side of this comparison can be priced from documented figures. The Chicago side, honestly, cannot be priced from the materials compiled for this Elmhurst set, and this report will not invent a figure for it. What can be done, and what this report does, is price an Elmhurst residential lot carefully, then lay out the exact method a seller would use to build a comparable Chicago figure from records, so the two numbers, once gathered, rest on the same arithmetic rather than on two different sales pitches.
For Elmhurst, the central illustration is this. In the sample compiled for this report, older homes averaged 26.6 percent of new build prices on comparable lots, or roughly $400,000 where a new home sold for $1,500,000 (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Working backwards from that same $1,500,000 finished sale, after roughly $600,000 in construction costs and a builder margin near 20 percent, leaves a residual land value around $575,000 to $650,000 before site preparation of $20,000 to $35,000 (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Recent new construction on standard Elmhurst lots has sold at $1,300,000 to $1,700,000 (Redfin, 2026). A residential lot in Elmhurst is therefore worth, in the cases builders pursue, considerably more than the older house sitting on it sells for as a home. A Chicago lot may be worth more or less than that. The Elmhurst materials do not say, and any report that quotes a Chicago lot average from an Elmhurst data file is guessing.
Key Findings
- Older Elmhurst homes in the 12 home sample averaged 26.6 percent of comparable new build prices, about $400,000 against a $1,500,000 new sale (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- The documented residual illustration leaves $575,000 to $650,000 for land behind a $1,500,000 Elmhurst new build, before $20,000 to $35,000 in site preparation (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- Builders acquired 10 of the 12 sampled older homes, a rate of 83.3 percent, on lots of at least 7,365 square feet (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
- In the recent record, freshly built homes on standard Elmhurst lots have traded at $1,300,000 to $1,700,000 (Redfin, 2026).
- No Chicago lot price, Chicago new build price, or Chicago sale sample appears in the materials for this set, so the Chicago side is answered by method and stated as a limit.
- Illinois context that applies to a sale in either place includes a state transfer tax of $1.00 per $1,000 of sale price (Illinois Department of Revenue, 2026).
What is an Elmhurst lot worth on the documented record?
Start with the lot itself. Standard Elmhurst lots run about a quarter acre, and the smallest lot in the builder sample was 7,365 square feet (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Parcel, permit, and assessment records for the village describe lot dimensions and assessed values address by address (DuPage County, 2026). A second county source records lot dimensions, zoning classification, and assessed values specifically for 60126 (DuPage County Supervisor of Assessments, 2026). Those records matter because lot value is never a village average in practice. A regular quarter acre parcel that can hold the kind of house selling at $1,300,000 to $1,700,000 is a different asset from a narrow or irregular parcel on the same street, even before the house on either lot is considered.
The finished price is the engine. Builders active in Elmhurst, with pipelines across the village, have delivered new homes in that $1,300,000 to $1,700,000 band on standard lots (Redfin, 2026). The residual method converts a finished price into a land budget, and the worked example at $1,500,000 shows how much room the method creates: roughly $600,000 of construction cost and a margin near 20 percent still leave $575,000 to $650,000 for the ground (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Apply the same steps at $1,300,000 and the land budget shrinks. Apply them at $1,700,000 and it grows. That sensitivity is the real answer to what an Elmhurst lot is worth: it is worth a share of what the next house on it can sell for, minus what that house costs to create, and the share moves with the finished price on that block. Readers who want the Elmhurst lot question without the city comparison can turn to the dedicated study of what a residential lot is worth in Elmhurst.
Recorded sales keep the method honest. Deeds for Elmhurst show what builders and households actually paid for older homes and lots, as distinct from what was asked (DuPage County Recorder, 2026). The sample result, 10 of 12 older homes going to builders, came from that kind of record, not from listing descriptions (Frontier Capitals, 2026). An owner comparing an Elmhurst lot with a Chicago lot should therefore compare recorded prices in both places, over a similar period, for lots of similar size, rather than comparing an Elmhurst recorded price with a Chicago asking price.
How would a fair Chicago figure be built by the same method?
The method travels even though the figures do not. For a Chicago lot, a seller would need four inputs, each from Chicago records rather than from this Elmhurst file. First, recent finished prices for new homes on comparable city lots, because the residual begins with the finished sale. Second, a construction cost and margin assumption stated as plainly as the Elmhurst illustration states its roughly $600,000 in costs and margin near 20 percent (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Third, the lot dimensions and zoning classification recorded for that specific parcel, mirroring the way Elmhurst parcels are read from county assessment records (DuPage County Supervisor of Assessments, 2026). Fourth, recorded deed prices for comparable city lots, mirroring the deed check used here (DuPage County Recorder, 2026). Only when all four inputs exist for Chicago does a side by side figure mean anything.
Until those inputs are gathered, the responsible comparison is structural rather than numerical. In Elmhurst, a suburban village of standard quarter acre lots and new homes at $1,300,000 to $1,700,000, the land share of a finished price is large enough that the residual can exceed the older home price by a wide margin (Frontier Capitals, 2026; Redfin, 2026). In a city setting, lot sizes, zoning envelopes, and finished prices all differ, and each difference pushes the residual in its own direction. A smaller city lot under a higher finished price could produce a higher value per square foot and a lower total, or the reverse. Nothing in the Elmhurst record chooses between those outcomes. Regional survey context for DuPage County housing describes the county market as a whole and likewise cannot price a city parcel across the county line (U.S. Census Bureau, 2025).
Village permit records add one more Elmhurst specific check. Building permit records show where new construction has actually been approved and built in Elmhurst, which confirms that the $1,300,000 to $1,700,000 finished band rests on real projects rather than on aspirations (City of Elmhurst, 2026). A Chicago comparison built by method would need the equivalent permit and completion evidence for the city blocks being compared. Sellers who hold property in both places should resist the shortcut of applying the Elmhurst 26.6 percent ratio to a Chicago house. That ratio was measured on 12 Elmhurst homes, on Elmhurst lots, against Elmhurst new build prices (Frontier Capitals, 2026). It describes this village. Carrying it into a different market without new inputs would turn a measured figure into a slogan, and the report on what older homes are worth inside the 60126 ZIP code shows how tightly the ratio is tied to this one ZIP code.
Which costs and taxes belong in both sides of the comparison?
A lot, or an older home bought for its lot, does not sell in a vacuum in either place. On the listed route in Elmhurst, a $400,000 sale carries commission at 5 to 6 percent, or $20,000 to $24,000 (National Association of Realtors, 2025). Seller side closing costs add a further 1 to 2 percent, and the state transfer tax is $1.00 per $1,000 of sale price (Illinois Department of Revenue, 2026). At $400,000 that transfer tax line alone is $400, a small figure beside commission, but it scales with price and it appears in both an Elmhurst closing and a Chicago closing because both sit in Illinois. Carrying costs also belong in the comparison. A listed older Elmhurst home more commonly takes 60 to 120 plus days from first showing to funded close, and $10,000 to $25,000 of holding expense can accumulate over three to six months of market time.
Property taxes shape the holding side of lot value as well. Illinois carries an effective property tax rate of 1.88 percent, ranked second highest among the states and compared with about 0.85 percent nationally (Tax Foundation, 2026). That state level context does not price a lot in either Elmhurst or Chicago, but it explains why holding vacant or underused residential land in Illinois is rarely cheap, and why a seller who delays a decision for a year should count a full year of taxes in the comparison rather than comparing sale prices alone. County assessment records are where the specific tax burden of an Elmhurst parcel can be checked (DuPage County, 2026). A Chicago parcel requires its own assessment record, which this set does not contain.
The cleanest way to keep the comparison fair is to compare net outcomes, not headline prices. Take the Elmhurst residual based price, subtract the costs of the route actually used to sell, and do the same for a Chicago figure once its inputs are documented. Sellers often find that a nominally higher price on one side shrinks once commission, closing costs, transfer tax, and months of holding expense are counted on that side. That is also why the analysis of whether larger lots in 60126 are worth more to builders matters to this question: size changes the gross figure, while the route changes the net figure, and a fair city comparison needs both adjustments made openly.
What does a direct sale do to the Elmhurst side of the ledger?
Frontier Capitals directs off market properties to builders while also buying with its own funds, and it describes that intermediary role openly instead of calling itself a builder. For an Elmhurst lot owner weighing this village against a Chicago holding, the direct route changes several lines of the Elmhurst ledger at once. Privacy comes first: no showings, no open houses, and no public marketing period, so the sale is not advertised to the street before it closes. Flexible closing comes second: a direct sale typically closes in 7 to 21 days when speed matters, or it can be placed months ahead with a leaseback when a family needs time. No commission is charged, which at a $400,000 price preserves $20,000 to $24,000 (National Association of Realtors, 2025). No seller closing costs are charged on this route, which preserves the further 1 to 2 percent that a listed sale would deduct. No inspections or repairs are required, so a seller does not face the $10,000 to $30,000 in repair credits or price reductions that older inventory commonly draws after inspection. Those five points do not move the Chicago side of the comparison, and they do not create a Chicago figure. They raise the net that an Elmhurst seller keeps from a documented Elmhurst price, which is one half of the comparison done properly.
An owner who wants to go further on the Elmhurst side can use the guide to determining whether a property is worth more as land to run the residual test on a specific address, then apply the same four input method described above to any Chicago lot before treating the comparison as settled.
Methodology and limitations
The Elmhurst figures in this report come from the sample compiled for this study, 12 homes built in 1980 or earlier, 10 acquired by builders, on lots of at least 7,365 square feet, with Elmhurst ranked 78th of 189 markets (Frontier Capitals, 2026). Finished prices come from the recent sales record for 60126 (Redfin, 2026). Parcel and assessment context comes from county parcel records and the county supervisor of assessments (DuPage County, 2026; DuPage County Supervisor of Assessments, 2026). Deed verification rests on recorded transfers (DuPage County Recorder, 2026), permit context on village records (City of Elmhurst, 2026), tax context on state and national sources (Illinois Department of Revenue, 2026; Tax Foundation, 2026), and county housing context on federal survey material (U.S. Census Bureau, 2025).
The central limitation is explicit and should not be softened. These materials contain no Chicago sale sample, no Chicago lot price, and no Chicago new build price, so no numeric Chicago comparison is offered. The sample is also not a census of Elmhurst, and the residual is a simplified illustration rather than an appraisal. A specific Elmhurst lot can sit well above or below the illustration for reasons of size, shape, zoning, and block that only its own parcel and deed records can settle.
Conclusion
On the documented record, an Elmhurst residential lot behind a $1,500,000 new build carries a residual value around $575,000 to $650,000 before site preparation, against an older home price near $400,000 at the sample ratio (Frontier Capitals, 2026). That is the grounded half of the comparison, supported by new build sales at $1,300,000 to $1,700,000 on standard lots (Redfin, 2026). The Chicago half requires Chicago inputs gathered by the same method: finished prices, costs and margin, parcel and zoning records, and recorded lot sales. Any shorter answer would be pretending that an Elmhurst data file can price a city it never sampled.
An Elmhurst owner who wants the residual run on a specific lot can call Frontier Capitals at 401-219-4207 or write to [email protected], and the firm will show each input it uses rather than asking the owner to trust a single number.
When one side of a comparison is measured and the other side is only quoted, how much is the comparison itself really worth?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a standard Elmhurst lot worth to a builder?
The documented illustration leaves $575,000 to $650,000 for land behind a $1,500,000 new build sale, before $20,000 to $35,000 in site preparation (Frontier Capitals, 2026). The figure for a specific lot moves with the finished price its block can support and with its own size and zoning (DuPage County Supervisor of Assessments, 2026).
Is a Chicago lot worth more than an Elmhurst lot?
The materials for this Elmhurst set do not document a Chicago lot price, so this report does not claim an answer either way. A fair answer requires Chicago finished prices, construction inputs, parcel records, and recorded lot sales, gathered by the same method used for Elmhurst.
Why is the lot worth more than the older house on it?
Because the buyer is pricing the next house, not the current one. New homes on standard Elmhurst lots have sold at $1,300,000 to $1,700,000 (Redfin, 2026), and even after construction costs and a builder margin, the residual for the ground can exceed the roughly $400,000 price of the older home in the sample (Frontier Capitals, 2026).
What taxes apply when an Elmhurst lot or older home is sold?
For Illinois, the tax on transferring real estate equals $1.00 per $1,000 of sale price (Illinois Department of Revenue, 2026). Illinois also carries an effective property tax rate of 1.88 percent, the second highest state rate in the comparison cited here (Tax Foundation, 2026). Specific parcel taxes should be checked in county assessment records (DuPage County, 2026).
How can an owner check what builders paid nearby?
Recorded deeds show sale prices and buyer names for Elmhurst transfers and can be checked in county records (DuPage County Recorder, 2026). Village permit records then show which of those purchases turned into new construction (City of Elmhurst, 2026).
Does lot size change the comparison with Chicago?
Size changes any lot comparison, because the residual depends on what can be built on the parcel. In Elmhurst the sample began at 7,365 square feet and standard lots run about a quarter acre (Frontier Capitals, 2026). A Chicago comparison should therefore be made lot by lot, with recorded dimensions on both sides, rather than by village or city averages.
Sellers in Elmhurst also ask How Much Does a Three-Car Garage Increase Home Value in Elmhurst?, Are Homes With Mountain Views Selling for More in Elmhurst? and Can an Executor Sell a House Without Court Approval in Elmhurst?
Sources
- Frontier Capitals, 2026. 189 neighborhood builder demand study: 12 homes sampled in 60126, 10 acquired by builders, average older home price 26.6 percent of new build, minimum lot 7,365 sq ft, ranked 78th of 189. Market data.
- City of Elmhurst, 2026. Building permit records and residential code requirements. Official record.
- DuPage County, 2026. Parcel, permit, and assessment records, Elmhurst IL. Official record.
- DuPage County Recorder, 2026. Recorded deeds, sale prices, and transfer records for Elmhurst. Official record.
- DuPage County Supervisor of Assessments, 2026. Parcel records: lot dimensions, zoning classification, and assessed values for 60126. Official record.
- Illinois Department of Revenue, 2026. Real estate transfer tax: $1.00 per $1,000 of sale price; residential disclosure requirements. Government data.
- National Association of Realtors, 2025. Typical seller commission structures, Elmhurst market. Industry report.
- Redfin, 2026. Recently sold homes and new construction, ZIP code 60126, Elmhurst IL. Market data.
- Tax Foundation, 2026. 50-state comparison of effective property tax rates: Illinois ranks 2nd at 1.88% vs about 0.85% national average. Research institute.
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2025. American Community Survey housing characteristics, DuPage County, Illinois. Government data.