Two Counties. Three School Districts. One Market You Need an Appraiser Who Knows All of It.

Algonquin grew by nearly 20,000 people in one decade. The village had 11,663 residents in 1990 and 23,276 by 2000, almost all of it driven by single-family subdivision construction: 594 permits in 2001, 455 in 2002, 384 in 1999. That housing stock from the late 1990s through the mid-2000s now sits 20 to 30 years old, and it represents the core of the Algonquin market. About 61.4% of the housing supply was built between 1970 and 1999. A second construction wave is underway: 178 permits in 2024, concentrated in the Corporate Campus corridor on the west side and newer developments along Randall Road. These two eras are not the same comp pool.

The price distribution reflects a well-established move-up market. The largest single cohort sits between $419,000 and $558,000, at 32.8% of homes. Below that, 35.1% of homes fall in the $279,000 to $419,000 range. Above $558,000, another 15.4% occupy the upper-mid tier, and roughly 5% sit at $698,000 and above, with a small luxury segment along the Fox River that has no comparable elsewhere in the village. The median household income is $131,753. This is not a starter-home market; 48% of homes have four or more bedrooms.

Five-year appreciation here is 59.41%. Homes in Algonquin are worth roughly 60% more than they were in 2020. That moves the market into a range where the gap between a Zestimate and a certified appraisal is not theoretical: it is measured in tens of thousands of dollars on a routine assignment. The tightest inventory in the northwest suburban market (1.5% vacancy rate) means prices have not corrected. Comps from 2022 or earlier are stale in ways that create real liability for anyone relying on them for legal, estate, or financial purposes.

Old Town sits on the Fox River bluffs along Route 31 and is the most distinct appraisal micro-market in the village. Properties here include homes from the 1940s through the 1970s on smaller, irregular lots with river proximity and walkable access to the downtown core: restaurants, boutiques, Hill Climb Park, and the Village Hall (built 1907). Old Town's comp set is different from anything in the 1990s subdivisions, and Fox River flood zone designations are relevant for properties along the riverbank. The premium for river view or access is real and documented. The discount for FEMA Zone AE placement is equally real.

The 1990s through 2000s boom subdivisions east of the Fox River and along the Randall Road corridor are where the majority of Algonquin's housing stock sits. Willoughby Farms on the west side of Randall feeds into Jacobs High School through Westfield Community School, the top-appreciating school feeder cluster in the village. Copper Oaks ranks first in five-year appreciation among all Algonquin neighborhoods. Gaslight North and Eagle Ridge rank second. Dawson Mill third. These neighborhoods are close in construction era and style, but the school district boundary between Jacobs and Dundee-Crown creates measurable price differentiation that requires careful handling in the comp selection process.

The far western edge of Algonquin, near Square Barn Road and the Huntley Road corridor, falls into Consolidated School District 158 and feeds into Huntley High School rather than the CUSD 300 campuses. This is the newest construction area in the village: 2020s-era homes, the Corporate Campus development, and expanding residential on the outer ring. Properties here need comps drawn from the same school district and construction vintage, not from the CUSD 300 neighborhoods two miles east. The far eastern portion of the village in Kane County, primarily the Algonquin Lakes subdivision, uses the same CUSD 300 school feeders but belongs to the Kane County assessor and requires Kane County Board of Review appeals.