If you own a home in Grayslake, Lindenhurst or Lake Villa, you have probably heard some version of "the market is up 20 percent." Maybe from a neighbor. Maybe from a headline about Lake County. And maybe you did the math in your head and liked the number.
Here is the problem. That 20 percent belongs to one of these three towns. Not all three. And if you price your house off the wrong town's headline, the market will correct you, slowly and expensively.
I sell in all three. Let me show you what June actually looked like, what it means for your house, and what I would do if it were my money.
Grayslake
+22%
Median about $395,000
91 sales · 60% sold over asking
Lindenhurst
+2.6%
Median about $390,000
59 sales · 59% sold over asking
Lake Villa
−9%
Median about $434,000
27 sales · 54% sold over asking
Median sale price, change vs. one year earlier. Redfin, June 2026, rolling three-month figures. Rounded.
The split nobody notices
Drive from Grayslake to Lake Villa and you pass through Lindenhurst without noticing. Same school district in places, same lakes, same Metra line a few minutes away. Buyers shop all three at once.
That is exactly why owners assume they are one market. They are not. In June 2026, according to Redfin's rolling three-month figures, Grayslake's median sale price was about $395,000, up 22 percent from a year earlier. Lindenhurst came in at roughly $390,000, up 2.6 percent. Lake Villa's median was about $434,000, down 9 percent.
Three towns you can cover on one tank of gas. One up hard, one flat, one down.
What each number really means
Problem: a median is not your house. It is the middle sale in a pile of sales, and the size of the pile matters.
Truth: Grayslake had 91 sales in that window. Lindenhurst had 59. Lake Villa had 27. When only 27 homes sell, a handful of lakefront closings or a couple of small ranches can swing the median by tens of thousands. Lake Villa's 9 percent drop may say more about which houses happened to sell than about what your house is worth.
Local meaning: Grayslake's 22 percent is the most trustworthy of the three numbers because the sample is biggest. It is also the number most likely to get borrowed by a Lake Villa or Lindenhurst seller who wants it to be true for them.
Next move: before you anchor on any town median, ask what sold on your street, in your subdivision, in your price band, in the last 90 days. That is the number buyers will use against you.
The pressure gauge is buyer behavior, not price
Problem: price tells you where the market has been. Buyer behavior tells you where it is going.
Truth: in June, about 60 percent of Grayslake homes sold above asking, with an average sale-to-list ratio of 101 percent. Lindenhurst was close behind at 59 percent above list and nearly 102 percent of asking. Lake Villa was 54 percent above list at 100.4 percent. Days on market ran 42 to 45 across all three, so speed is similar. Leverage is not.
June 2026 | Grayslake | Lindenhurst | Lake Villa |
|---|---|---|---|
Median sale price | $395K | $390K | $434K |
Change vs. last year | +22% | +2.6% | −9% |
Homes sold (3 months) | 91 | 59 | 27 |
Sold above asking | 60% | 59% | 54% |
Sale-to-list ratio | 101% | ~102% | 100.4% |
Days on market | 42–45 | 42–45 | 42–45 |
Local meaning: in Grayslake and Lindenhurst, a well-priced home is still getting more than one offer. In Lake Villa, roughly half of sellers got their price or better, and the other half negotiated down. That is a normal market, not a hot one.
Next move: if you are in Lake Villa, plan on one strong offer, not a bidding war. Price to attract that offer in the first two weeks. If you are in Grayslake or Lindenhurst, price at the market, not above it. The above-list results came from homes that started at the right number and got bid up, not from homes that started high.
"The market doesn't negotiate with a headline. It negotiates with the three houses that sold on your block last month."
Why the headline hurts Lake Villa sellers most
Problem: the Lake County median is up about 8.6 percent as of July, and Grayslake is up 22 percent. A Lake Villa owner sees both, prices 10 percent over the last comparable sale, and waits.
Truth: buyers shopping all three towns see that house next to a Lindenhurst listing with a newer roof at $30,000 less. They do not care which town's headline you read. They care about what else they can buy for the money.
Local meaning: the homes I see expire or cancel in Lake Villa are almost never bad houses. They are good houses priced for a different town.
Next move: if your listing sat this summer and you are thinking about relisting this fall, the fix is usually not new photos. It is a price built from Lake Villa sales, and a plan for what happens in the first 14 days.
Before you guess, get the numbers →
Jimmy's Take
Price to your street, not your county. Every fall I meet owners who are anchored to a number they heard in June, in a town they do not live in. The market does not negotiate with a headline. It negotiates with the three houses down the block that sold last month.
If you are in Grayslake, you have real leverage right now, but it is leverage to sell fast at the right number, not permission to overshoot. If you are in Lindenhurst, you are in the steadiest of the three, and steady is a good place to sell from. If you are in Lake Villa, the small sample means your number is more house-specific than anywhere else on this list, and a real valuation matters more, not less.
Bottom Line
Grayslake, Lindenhurst and Lake Villa look like one market and sell like three. As of June 2026, one is up sharply, one is flat, one is down on a small sample. The right price for your house comes from your own subdivision's sales, not from whichever headline sounds best. If you are thinking about a fall move, start with a real read on your specific street before you touch a listing agreement.
Thinking about selling?
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Data: Redfin housing market pages for Grayslake, Lindenhurst and Lake Villa (June 2026, rolling three-month medians) and Lake County (July 2026). Figures are rounded. Medians describe the market, not any individual home.
