The five-bedroom house at 6 South Elm Street sold for $3 million on Tuesday, June 3. Listed at $2,999,000 by Sylvia Kos of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago, the new construction home fetched $691 per square foot. Five days later, a second home on the same street, at 731 South Elm, closed for $4 million at $773 per square foot.

For the homeowner on the next block, those numbers rewrite the math. The village-wide median listing price sits at $431 per square foot, according to Altos Research data as of Tuesday, June 23. The 6 South Elm sale came in 60% above that figure.

The 4,340-square-foot home with six bathrooms is new construction in the Robbins Park Historic District. The buyer and builder have not been identified in available public records. It sold the same day as a 2002-built home at 128 South Clay Street that went for $1.67 million, or $448 per square foot. A 1998-built home at 5561 South Oak Street closed on Sunday, June 1, for $1.97 million at $428 per square foot.

The comparison suggests new construction in Robbins Park commands a significant per-square-foot premium over older homes on nearby streets.

Hinsdale's inventory remains structurally tight. Only 37 active listings were on the market as of June 23, representing 2.2 months of supply. The average time to contract is 39 days, and homes are selling at 98% of asking price, according to Relux Group market data refreshed Sunday, June 22. That same data shows a 19.8% year-over-year gain in median list price.

Cash buyers are accelerating the shift. Nearly 39% of all Hinsdale closings in 2024 were cash transactions, up from 22% in 2020, per Relux Group figures. Average closed prices rose from roughly $1,016,000 in 2020 to $1,461,000 by 2024.

The new construction wave is reshaping the district's character. Historic Preservation Commission Chair John Bohnen warned at the commission's Tuesday, April 1 meeting: "Many of us are concerned that, at some point in time, we're going to lose the designation as a historic district, because there's going to be very little left that emulates historic architecture."

Kos herself received HPC approval at that same April 1 meeting to demolish a 115-year-old Colonial Revival home at 305 South Garfield Street and replace it with a modern design. The commission approved the demolition 5-0.