Will Michael Jordan's Home Ever Sell?

Update 1/18/2013: Michael Jordan's house has dropped in price from $29 million to $21 million, according to NBC Chicago. 

Thanks to Patch reader TJ Wheeler for the tip.

Earlier: Michael Jordan's Highland Park home has been listed at $29 million since it appeared on the market in February.

Typically, keeping the listing price constant is a surefire way to keep a home on the market. But from the home itself to the hoops you need to go through to even see it, nothing about the 2700 Point Lane is typical.

At the time Jordan's 56,000-square-foot-home was listed, the Chicago Tribune pointed out that if the home sold for "anywhere near that asking price, it would be the most expensive, publicly listed home sale in the Chicago area."

But will that sale ever happen? Almost a year later, the original listing price has not been reduced. This could indicate that the owners are not in any rush to get the property off their hands, according to Marco Home Builders & Developers owner Bill Bommarito.

"In this market, any one who refuses to lower the price of the house is basically indicating that they don't have a strong motivation to sell," Bommarito said.

According to the Highland Park resident, if a home doesn't sell after the first 90 days it's listed, that's a sign the asking price should be adjusted.

"Within 90 days if they don't lower the price, it's just going to sit," Bommarito said.

The realtors representing 2700 Point Lane did not return calls from Patch.

Highland Park resident and Coldwell Banker realtor Eve Tarm points out that the guidelines that apply to most homes may not apply to exceptional ones like those owned by internationally famous basketball giants.

"It is not just about the property, it is about the owner and property combined," Tarm said, explaining that people who visit Highland Park are always intrigued to know Michael Jordan has a home nearby. "We're talking about something extremely special."

Bommarito, who toured the house when it was undergoing construction a few years ago, acknowledges that the house is unique, to say the least.

"I got lost in there," Bommarito said. "It had a beauty salon, it had a basement that looked like it was 15 to 18 feet deep."

The builders of the home planted mature trees they had bought from homeowners in the area instead of planting younger trees available at nurseries.

"They spent monies I've never heard of," Bommarito said. "In terms of being a builder, how do you calculate the value of that type of house?"

Yet, a home with that much money poured into it might make it a harder sell, not an easier one. In the past year, only three single family homes sold for over $5 million dollars in the Chicago metropolitan area, according to Tarm, who got the information from Midwest Real Estate Data. The homes that sold were on the market for an average of 781 days, and their last listing price was 89 percent of the original.

There are currently 57 single family homes on the market in the Chicago metropolitan area priced over $5 million dollars, according to Tarm, who adds that if these homes continue to sell at the same rate they've sold over the past year, it would take 228 months to sell them all.

"In other words, there is 19 years worth of inventory," Tarm said.

In comparison, there are 231 homes on the market in Highland Park of any price. Over the past year, 340 homes sold. At that rate, it would take less than a year for all of these homes to sell.

Though those numbers are compelling, Tarm cautions drawing any conclusions about whether or not Michael Jordan's house will sell, and at what cost.

"Statistics are good for setting expectations, but they don't mean more than that," Tarm said. 

She pointed out that the statistics especially don't mean as much for homes like Jordan's that are in a league of their own.

"It can take time, but it can sell tomorrow," Tarm said. "It only takes one person."

For more news and updates, "like" us on Facebook and sign up for the Winnetka-Glencoe Patch's free daily newsletter here.