Lake Forest's luxury housing market is getting tighter and pricier, with inventory down nearly a quarter from a year ago and median sale prices topping $1.6 million in June.

Homes are selling above asking.

June data from Midwest Real Estate Data shows just 49 detached single-family homes available in Lake Forest at month's end, down 23.4% from 64 a year earlier. New listings dropped 28.9% to 27. The median sale price hit $1,657,500, up 9% year over year, and sellers received 100.1% of original list price on average, compared with 98.1% in June 2025.

Lake Bluff's market is even leaner. Inventory there fell 47.6% to just 11 homes, though average market time ballooned to 95 days from 38 a year earlier, according to MRED data.

The broader Chicago-area luxury segment mirrors the local crunch. A Zillow report via PR Newswire published in July shows luxury home inventory in the metro fell 7.3% year over year in June while luxury sales surged 24.9%.

For the MercFoss Team at Coldwell Banker Realty, tight inventory is familiar territory. Donna Mercier, a 38-year Lake Forest resident, entered real estate in 1991 and runs the family operation from 675 Forest Ave. with her daughter Donielle Foss Crimmins and son Chris Foss. Foss has been on the team 23 years; Foss Crimmins, 18.

Mercier told JWC Media in a July 31 profile that the family structure helps clients navigate a competitive market. "Some like working with women; others like working with men. Having different generations helps, too," she said.

Mercier serves on the board of The Ponds, the Lake Forest community where she has lived more than 30 years, and is a member of the Lake Forest Historical Society.

Over the trailing 12 months through June, Lake Forest's detached single-family median sale price stood at $1,399,000, up 9.7% from the prior year, with an average market time of 59 days.