Analytics built by: Location, Inc.
Raw data sources: American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Methodology: NeighborhoodScout uses over 600 characteristics to build a neighborhood profile… Read more about Scout's Real Estate Data
With 14,566 people, 6,532 houses or apartments, and a median cost of homes of $118,116, house prices in Sterling are some of the most affordable in Illinois as well as the nation.
Single-family detached homes are the single most common housing type in Sterling, accounting for 67.09% of the city's housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent in Sterling include duplexes, homes converted to apartments or other small apartment buildings ( 15.44%), large apartment complexes or high rise apartments ( 15.05%), and a few row houses and other attached homes ( 1.76%).
The most prevalent building size and type in Sterling are three and four bedroom dwellings, chiefly found in single-family detached homes. The city has a mixture of owners and renters, with 60.41% owning and 39.59% renting.
At the end of World War II, American soldiers returned home triumphant and, with the help of the GI Bill, built homes by the millions on the edges of America's cities. These homes were predominantly capes and ranches, modest in size, but built to house a growing middle-class as the 20th century became the American century. Sterling's housing was primarily built during this period, from the '40s through the '60s. A full 38.11% of the city's housing hails from this era. Other housing ages represented in Sterling include homes built between 1970-1999 ( 27.96%) and housing constructed before 1939 ( 26.84%). There's also some housing in Sterling built between 2000 and later ( 7.09%).
Vacant housing appears to be an issue in Sterling. Fully 11.13% of the housing stock is classified as vacant. Left unchecked, vacant Sterling homes and apartments can be a drag on the real estate market, holding Sterling real estate prices below levels they could achieve if vacant housing was absorbed into the market and became occupied. Housing vacancy rates are a useful measure to consider, along with other things, if you are a home buyer or a real estate investor.
Some of the lowest real estate appreciation rates in America over the last ten years have been in Sterling, where house values have increased just 43.59%, which is annualized rate of 3.68%. This rate is lower than the appreciation rate found in 90% of the cities and towns in America.
NeighborhoodScout's data show that during the latest twelve months, Sterling's appreciation rate, at 6.76%, has been at or slightly above the national average. In the latest quarter, Sterling's appreciation rate has been 1.42%, which annualizes to a rate of 5.82%.
Relative to Illinois, our data show that Sterling's latest annual appreciation rate is lower than 70% of the other cities and towns in Illinois.
One very important thing to keep in mind is that these are average appreciation rates for the city. Individual neighborhoods within Sterling differ in their investment potential, sometimes by a great deal. Fortunately, you can use NeighborhoodScout to pinpoint the exact neighborhoods in Sterling - or in any city or town - that have the best track record of real estate appreciation, by the latest quarter, the last year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even since 2000, to assist you in making the best Sterling real estate investment or home purchase decisions.
$118,116
for Illinois
for nation
6,532
$1,041 / per month