ZIP 60659 presents a cross-market tension rather than a single-rent conclusion. Zillow’s June ZORI is $1,809, a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, and it was only 0.9% above its year-earlier level. In contrast, Redfin’s direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation reports a $439,901 median sold price, up 21.4% year over year. Annualized ZORI divided by that sale price is 4.9%, but that is solely a cross-source screening ratio, not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield. The contrast puts a cooling current rent reading beside much firmer reported resale pricing; neither series supplies rental transaction evidence.
The backward-looking Zillow history supports the cooling label. Exact same-month annualized ZORI change was 0.9% over one year, compared with 5.9% over three years and 6.3% over five years. Thus, recent direction breaks from the materially faster longer path rather than confirming it. The series has 102 observations and 100 consecutive monthly returns, with 99.0% coverage. Annualized monthly-return variability of 2.9% indicates relatively limited month-to-month movement in this history. Separately, the largest recorded peak-to-trough decline was 3.0%, a bounded historical setback rather than a forecast. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 1,149 for momentum, 1,446 for stability, and 1,183 for the balanced measure; lower ranks are stronger. Those backward-looking measures support moderate confidence in the index as a current snapshot, while the latest slowdown limits confidence that prior multiyear growth describes current direction.
The 60659 label is both a Zillow ZIP market identifier and a Census ZCTA match. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. The matched ACS 2024 five-year survey reports median gross rent of $1,443 for occupied renter homes, making Zillow’s asking-rent index 25.4% higher. That difference is not proof of an error or of a change in any one unit: ACS is a survey of occupied renter homes and its gross-rent measure includes selected utilities, while ZORI is an asking-rent index. ACS also describes a broad five-year survey period, whereas ZORI reflects the stated current index month.
Bedroom figures should be read as modelled monthly estimates, not measured bedroom rents. They scale ZIP ZORI through the local HUD bedroom ladder: $1,503 for a studio, $1,601 for one bedroom, $1,809 for two bedrooms, $2,333 for three bedrooms, and $2,699 for four bedrooms. HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative bedroom-specific standard, not asking rent, and the ladder does not establish what any available property commands. The model is most useful for maintaining a consistent size relationship around the ZIP-level ZORI; it cannot replace unit-level listings, lease records, or a matched set of rental comparables.
The affordability and housing-stock screen gives the rent slowdown additional context. Applying a 30% gross-income rule arithmetically to the current ZORI produces required annual income of $72,360, above the ACS median household income of $68,704; this is an arithmetic screen, not advice or an applicant qualification rule. The ZCTA contains 14,765 housing units and has a 7.0% vacancy rate. Among 7,303 renter-occupied homes, 3,463 households, or 47.4%, were reported as spending at least 30% of income on gross rent. The documented stock spans single-family and large-multifamily units. These aggregate measures describe the ZCTA survey universe, not the vacancy, affordability, or rent burden of a particular unit or household.
Broader rent context is consistently higher than the ZIP index, but it remains wider-area context rather than ZIP-level evidence: Chicago city context rent is $2,408.80, Cook County context rent is $2,336, and the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI metro context rent is $2,275. The lower 60659 ZORI therefore sits beneath each named city, county, and metro reference. Those comparisons are useful for locating the ZIP within larger geographies, yet they cannot show whether a given building, bedroom count, utility package, or lease offering is comparatively priced.
Redfin’s direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale data describe the for-sale market only, not rental transactions. The observation recorded 57 homes sold, median marketing time of 44 days, inventory of 70 homes, and 3.7 months of supply. Sale-to-list evidence remained firm, with an average sale-to-list ratio of 100.9% and 45.5% of sales above list price. Alongside the earlier reported resale-price increase, these are resale-liquidity and pricing signals that challenge any attempt to treat the slower ZORI path as a parallel for-sale-market indicator. They do not resolve the rental affordability screen because resale conditions, occupied-household survey rents, and asking-rent indexes are separate evidence universes.
This packet cannot establish a future rent path, a property’s operating economics, a buyer outcome, or the rent available at a specific address. A property-level review would need the actual bedroom count, lease start date and term, asking rent, concessions, utility treatment, furnishing status, condition, and directly comparable signed leases. For a resale comparison, the relevant checks would include property type, sale date, list history, condition, and genuinely comparable nearby sold homes. The ZIP history is backward-looking, the ACS figures are survey estimates, HUD standards are administrative, and Redfin is a rolling resale observation. The decision tension is therefore clear but bounded: slower recent ZIP asking-rent growth coexists with stronger reported resale pricing, without proving that either series determines the other.
","findings":[{"body":"The latest one-year ZORI change is far below the ZIP’s three-year and five-year same-month annualized rent changes. That pattern breaks from the earlier growth path and supports a cooling interpretation. Low historical monthly variability and a limited maximum drawdown make the time series useful as a broad index, but they do not convert past rent behavior into a forecast.","title":"Recent asking-rent momentum has cooled"},{"body":"Zillow ZORI and ACS median gross rent answer different questions. ZORI tracks a typical observed asking-rent index across rental types, while ACS measures occupied renter homes over a five-year survey period and includes selected utilities. The observed gap is therefore a source-universe distinction, not evidence that every available unit rents above every occupied household’s reported gross rent.","title":"Current asking rent exceeds the ACS occupied-home benchmark"},{"body":"The arithmetic income required to place current ZORI at 30% of gross income exceeds the ZCTA median household income. In the ACS renter universe, nearly half of renter households reported gross-rent burdens at or above that threshold. This signals aggregate affordability pressure, but it cannot demonstrate a specific applicant’s financial position, a building’s vacancy, or a landlord’s qualification practice.","title":"Income pressure is visible in the aggregate renter survey"},{"body":"The direct ZIP resale observation shows a higher median sold price, sales activity, limited months of supply, above-list transactions, and an average sale-to-list ratio above parity. Those are for-sale liquidity and pricing indicators, not rental comparables. Their contrast with cooling ZORI growth is the central evidence tension and prevents a one-market reading of the ZIP.","title":"Resale signals are firmer than the current rent-growth signal"}],"risks":["Zillow ZORI combines observed asking rents across rental types, so it cannot identify the asking rent, concession, lease term, utility package, or availability of a specific dwelling.","ACS gross rent is a five-year survey estimate for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities, making it unsuitable as a direct substitute for a current asking-rent quote.","HUD bedroom standards support the modelled ladder but are administrative FMR or SAFMR benchmarks, not evidence of achieved rents for available units of matching size.","Redfin resale observations describe homes that sold in the rolling period and cannot establish rental demand, lease pricing, operating costs, or property-level investment economics."],"qa":[{"a":"The Zillow figure is ZIP-level ZORI, a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types. It is not a signed-lease average, a utility-inclusive gross-rent measure, or a quoted rent for a particular available apartment. Its value is strongest as a consistent market index for the stated month.","q":"What does the Zillow rent figure represent?"},{"a":"The two measures cover different universes. ACS is a five-year survey of occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities in gross rent, while Zillow measures current observed asking-rent conditions across rental types. A difference between them can reflect timing, occupancy status, included utilities, and measure design without proving a pricing mistake.","q":"Why is ACS median gross rent lower than Zillow ZORI?"},{"a":"No. The studio through four-bedroom figures are modelled monthly estimates created by scaling ZIP ZORI with the local HUD bedroom ladder. They are not measured bedroom rents, lease transactions, or a set of matched listings. They should be checked against actual unit size, included utilities, condition, and current comparable offerings.","q":"Are the bedroom rent figures direct observations?"},{"a":"Redfin adds a direct ZIP view of the rolling-three-month for-sale market, including median sold price, sales volume, marketing time, inventory, supply, and sale-to-list behavior. It shows resale conditions that were firmer than recent asking-rent growth. It does not establish rental transaction pricing or convert the rent-to-price screen into a property return measure.","q":"What does the resale data add to the rental analysis?"}],"sources":[{"key":"apartment_list_time_on_market","name":"Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/category/data-rent-estimates"},{"key":"apartment_list_vacancy","name":"Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/apartment-list-vacancy-index-methodology"},{"key":"census_zcta_facts","name":"Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income","release":"ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs5.html"},{"key":"hud_zip","name":"HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback","release":"ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY2026","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/usps_crosswalk.html"},{"key":"realtor_county","name":"Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventory","release":"county inventory 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-07-28","url":"https://www.realtor.com/research/data/"},{"key":"redfin","name":"Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cuts","release":"metro tracker through 2026-05-01","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/"},{"key":"redfin_zip","name":"Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supply","release":"ZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-03","pulledAt":"2026-08-12","url":"https://www.redfin.com/news/data-center/"},{"key":"zillow_county","name":"Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rents","release":"county ZHVI/ZORI 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori","name":"Zillow ZORI — metro market rents","release":"Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv","pulledAt":"2026-07-26","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori_city","name":"Zillow ZORI — city market rents","release":"zillow_zori_city.csv","pulledAt":"2026-07-29","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"},{"key":"zillow_zori_zip","name":"Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rents","release":"ZORI ZIP 2026-06","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.zillow.com/research/data/"}],"history":[{"period":"2017-12-01","rent":1207.397019},{"period":"2018-01-01","rent":1213.040054},{"period":"2018-02-01","rent":1225.041744},{"period":"2018-03-01","rent":1234.447362},{"period":"2018-04-01","rent":1225.673973},{"period":"2018-05-01","rent":1215.853147},{"period":"2018-06-01","rent":1197.560797},{"period":"2018-07-01","rent":1210.321861},{"period":"2018-08-01","rent":1207.404919},{"period":"2018-09-01","rent":1217.898563},{"period":"2018-10-01","rent":1218.54812},{"period":"2018-11-01","rent":1223.083934},{"period":"2018-12-01","rent":1208.420675},{"period":"2019-01-01","rent":1214.389017},{"period":"2019-02-01","rent":1211.254968},{"period":"2019-03-01","rent":1216.850046},{"period":"2019-04-01","rent":1227.085613},{"period":"2019-05-01","rent":1243.404318},{"period":"2019-06-01","rent":1261.201586},{"period":"2019-07-01","rent":1257.932518},{"period":"2019-08-01","rent":1263.502979},{"period":"2019-09-01","rent":1261.171964},{"period":"2019-10-01","rent":1270.076053},{"period":"2019-11-01","rent":1269.7821},{"period":"2020-01-01","rent":1287.053652},{"period":"2020-02-01","rent":1294.433729},{"period":"2020-03-01","rent":1295.066797},{"period":"2020-04-01","rent":1290.132608},{"period":"2020-05-01","rent":1289.824016},{"period":"2020-06-01","rent":1289.053299},{"period":"2020-07-01","rent":1297.05152},{"period":"2020-08-01","rent":1300.918735},{"period":"2020-09-01","rent":1315.572706},{"period":"2020-10-01","rent":1313.452306},{"period":"2020-11-01","rent":1303.406956},{"period":"2020-12-01","rent":1307.223977},{"period":"2021-01-01","rent":1306.39736},{"period":"2021-02-01","rent":1324.233344},{"period":"2021-03-01","rent":1305.390828},{"period":"2021-04-01","rent":1311.182808},{"period":"2021-05-01","rent":1317.420322},{"period":"2021-06-01","rent":1333.239842},{"period":"2021-07-01","rent":1342.379374},{"period":"2021-08-01","rent":1341.465557},{"period":"2021-09-01","rent":1328.088814},{"period":"2021-10-01","rent":1342.068991},{"period":"2021-11-01","rent":1358.263204},{"period":"2021-12-01","rent":1395.294891},{"period":"2022-01-01","rent":1398.791525},{"period":"2022-02-01","rent":1413.447089},{"period":"2022-03-01","rent":1411.84882},{"period":"2022-04-01","rent":1419.230868},{"period":"2022-05-01","rent":1429.13651},{"period":"2022-06-01","rent":1428.742026},{"period":"2022-07-01","rent":1437.473957},{"period":"2022-08-01","rent":1441.362807},{"period":"2022-09-01","rent":1459.090559},{"period":"2022-10-01","rent":1456.855728},{"period":"2022-11-01","rent":1464.360388},{"period":"2022-12-01","rent":1442.274378},{"period":"2023-01-01","rent":1475.268398},{"period":"2023-02-01","rent":1480.12405},{"period":"2023-03-01","rent":1520.874268},{"period":"2023-04-01","rent":1517.146964},{"period":"2023-05-01","rent":1516.279569},{"period":"2023-06-01","rent":1521.96159},{"period":"2023-07-01","rent":1538.438515},{"period":"2023-08-01","rent":1566.616235},{"period":"2023-09-01","rent":1584.480678},{"period":"2023-10-01","rent":1596.682448},{"period":"2023-11-01","rent":1611.040699},{"period":"2023-12-01","rent":1639.321172},{"period":"2024-01-01","rent":1632.087029},{"period":"2024-02-01","rent":1628.570455},{"period":"2024-03-01","rent":1605.87123},{"period":"2024-04-01","rent":1630.557892},{"period":"2024-05-01","rent":1641.575217},{"period":"2024-06-01","rent":1662.81278},{"period":"2024-07-01","rent":1670.736338},{"period":"2024-08-01","rent":1683.781994},{"period":"2024-09-01","rent":1689.932933},{"period":"2024-10-01","rent":1702.014635},{"period":"2024-11-01","rent":1705.590067},{"period":"2024-12-01","rent":1707.825595},{"period":"2025-01-01","rent":1719.535201},{"period":"2025-02-01","rent":1722.886494},{"period":"2025-03-01","rent":1722.869139},{"period":"2025-04-01","rent":1733.747607},{"period":"2025-05-01","rent":1766.143686},{"period":"2025-06-01","rent":1792.786984},{"period":"2025-07-01","rent":1800.807992},{"period":"2025-08-01","rent":1798.987779},{"period":"2025-09-01","rent":1804.576718},{"period":"2025-10-01","rent":1811.018341},{"period":"2025-11-01","rent":1819.672731},{"period":"2025-12-01","rent":1827.144823},{"period":"2026-01-01","rent":1832.074359},{"period":"2026-02-01","rent":1846.419763},{"period":"2026-03-01","rent":1863.449703},{"period":"2026-04-01","rent":1854.714472},{"period":"2026-05-01","rent":1833.31406},{"period":"2026-06-01","rent":1808.619658}],"historySummary":{"pointCount":102,"firstPeriod":"2017-12-01","latestPeriod":"2026-06-01","coverageMonths":103,"coverageRatio":0.9902912621359223,"changes":{"1":{"years":1,"startPeriod":"2025-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1792.786984,"endRent":1808.619658,"change":0.008831319136797022,"cagr":0.008831319136797022},"3":{"years":3,"startPeriod":"2023-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1521.96159,"endRent":1808.619658,"change":0.18834776769892092,"cagr":0.059207835727113745},"5":{"years":5,"startPeriod":"2021-06-01","endPeriod":"2026-06-01","startRent":1333.239842,"endRent":1808.619658,"change":0.3565598634427849,"cagr":0.06288870678265512}},"maxDrawdown":-0.029881035138053957,"annualizedVolatility":0.029055078605760145,"consecutiveReturnCount":100}}