In March 2026, testimony before the Elmhurst City Council described teardown activity on a block. Patch reported the account. According to that account, in 2006 the block had one teardown and four expansions. In the last six years it has had no expansions, 10 teardowns, and two more on the way.
The reported account put new homes on the block at $1.5 million, four times the average home price in the U.S. and beyond the reach of almost all.
That $1.5 million is a reported estimate, not a closed-sale average. But that pattern explains Elmhurst pricing better than any median does. When a first-time buyer tours a 1950s ranch in this town, they aren't only bidding against other families who want to live in that house. They're also bidding against what the dirt under it is worth to someone who plans to knock it down.
Two kinds of buyers want the same house
The City's 2026 housing report, prepared with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, says this outright. It calls Elmhurst's older homes the town's "moderately priced homeownership stock" and says they're sought by young families buying a first home and by seniors looking to downsize. Then it adds a third group: "Also competing for older and smaller homes are families looking to tear down and rebuild their dream home."
A family buying a house to live in pays what the house is worth to them. A family buying it to tear down pays what the lot is worth once a new home sits on it. In a town where new construction sells at the top of the market, the second number can come out ahead, and that puts a floor under every modest house on a desirable street.
The report's figures show how much pressure that floor is under:
| Measure | Figure | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Elmhurst median sale price | $300,000 to $604,000 | 2012 to 2025 |
| Median value, homes built in the 1950s | about $326,200 to $467,900 | 2013 to 2023 |
| Homeowner vacancy rate | below 0.5% | every year since 2021 |
| Residential demolitions | 389 total, about 78 per year | 2020 to 2024 |
| Share of single-family stock replaced | 3.1% of about 12,639 homes | 2020 to 2024 |
A vacancy rate under half a percent means there's almost no slack. Roughly 78 homes come down each year, and the report says older, smaller homes are the ones drawing rebuilders. As new homes replace them at far higher prices, the starter tier shrinks from both ends. Fewer modest homes are left, and the ones that remain are valued partly by what could replace them.
The report also compares incomes to prices. It counts about 3,613 owner households earning under $100,000 and about 1,588 owner-occupied homes priced within reach of those incomes, assuming a household can afford a home worth three times its annual income.
Where the lot buyer shows up
Rebuild demand isn't spread evenly across town. The report maps demolitions and new home builds from 2020 to 2024 and finds them most common near the Prairie Path and City Centre. They also turn up north of North Avenue and near Butterfield Road.
On a street near the Prairie Path, a small older home faces both kinds of buyers. On a street with little rebuild activity, the same house competes mostly with other families, and its price follows what it's worth as a place to live.
The pace hasn't slowed. In his 2026 State of the City address, Mayor Scott Levin listed construction of 67 new homes in 2025 as the highest total in DuPage County.
What a rebuild has to absorb before the lot is worth it
How much a rebuilder can pay for a lot depends on what they have to spend before the new house is finished. In Elmhurst, a few local rules set those costs.
- The demolition fee. The housing report puts the City's charge at $2,416 per teardown, meant to cover the cost of administrative review. That's a small line item in a seven-figure project.
- Stormwater storage. Under Elmhurst's New Single Family Home Stormwater Management Policy, a redevelopment has to provide storage to offset its added runoff, sized to the lot's maximum impervious coverage.
- The new zoning envelope. City Council adopted a full rewrite of the zoning ordinance on July 20, 2026, the first since 1992. The adopted text caps building coverage at 25% in the RE district and 30% for single- and two-family homes in the other districts it lists. It counts accessory structures toward that cap along with the house. Single- and two-family homes in several residential districts top out at 35 feet and 2.5 stories.
The new ordinance also defines an accessory dwelling unit as a separate home tied to a single-family house on the same lot, built inside it, attached to it, or in a detached structure. The research behind this post didn't confirm the final rules on where ADUs are allowed or how they're approved. Anyone pricing a lot around one should confirm those details with the City's planning staff first.
Put those together and the rebuilder's ceiling is fairly clear. The lot is worth the finished price of the biggest house the envelope allows, minus construction, stormwater work, and fees. On streets where a new house can sell near the reported figure, that leftover can beat what a first-time buyer's mortgage approval allows.
Why July's 16.8% drop doesn't mean the floor moved
Mainstreet REALTORS, the regional REALTOR association, reported that Elmhurst's median sale price for detached homes fell 16.8% year over year in July 2026. That put Elmhurst on a list of suburbs with notable declines in the same month the suburban detached median rose 7%, from $420,000 to $450,000.
Read that headline carefully. A one-month median in a single suburb depends on which homes happened to close that month. Elmhurst's sales mix runs from modest postwar houses to brand-new construction. A month with fewer new-construction closings, or more older homes selling, can pull the median down while the value of any given lot stays where it was. Mainstreet didn't publish the dollar figure behind Elmhurst's July change, and Elmhurst-specific figures for August and September 2026 weren't available from the sources used here.
The wider market gives no sign of a pullback. For August 2026, Mainstreet reported a suburban detached median of $450,000, up from $420,000, on 2,672 closed sales. Illinois REALTORS put the August 2026 single-family median for the nine-county Chicago metro, which includes DuPage, at $449,000, up 6.9%. Homes across all property types took a median 22 days to sell, unchanged from a year earlier.
The fee that could change the math, if the City takes it up
The one policy that would directly raise the cost of a rebuild was a proposal when it reached the Council. At the February 16, 2026 City Council meeting, the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus presented the report's fifth strategy: a Housing Trust Fund paid for partly by a higher demolition fee. The presenter said regional fees often run $10,000 or $15,000 per demolition and listed next steps that included "evaluating a modification to the existing demolition fee."
The report compares Elmhurst's $2,416 to Northbrook's $10,000 and Highland Park's $15,000, both of which put the money into housing trust funds. It says Northbrook's fee has already raised about $800,000.
This post couldn't confirm whether the City has acted on a higher fee, a trust fund, or a housing commission since that February presentation. Any vote would show up in the City Council's agendas and minutes. Residents have weighed in. In the report's survey, 72% agreed that "Elmhurst needs more housing options for first-time homebuyers." In open-ended answers, 229 respondents asked for fewer teardowns, the second most common request after more affordable housing.
Even at $15,000, a demolition fee would be a small cost next to a new house on a lot near the Prairie Path. It would move the rebuilder's ceiling a little, not remove it.
FAQ
Does every older Elmhurst home sell at lot value? No. The housing report finds teardowns clustered near the Prairie Path and City Centre, with more north of North Avenue and near Butterfield Road. How much rebuild demand a house sees depends on its block and lot, so recent sales on the same street tell you more than the citywide median.
Did the July 2026 zoning rewrite stop teardowns? The adopted ordinance sets coverage, height, and setback limits for each district, but it doesn't ban demolition. The research for this post didn't establish a line-by-line comparison with the 1992 code.
Is Elmhurst's demolition fee going up? A higher fee tied to a Housing Trust Fund was presented to the City Council on February 16, 2026, as a strategy to evaluate. This post couldn't confirm whether the City has acted on it since.
If you own an older Elmhurst home, its price depends on two buyer pools: families who want to live in it and buyers who want the lot. Pricing it for only one of them leaves money on the table. Francesco Campobasso prices Elmhurst listings against both, street by street and comp by comp. Get Your Free Home Valuation and find out which buyer is setting the number on your block.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
