Selling homes in Evanston is like selling hot cakes, said Evanston township assessor and realtor Sharon Eckersall. Once they’re available, they go fast.

Local real estate agencies have said demand for Evanston homes can be attributed to a strong economy, community diversity and strong school districts.

Evanston had 1,600 property transactions in 1999, which is up from 1,100 in 1995, said City Clerk Mary Morris.

Cole Joyce, a realtor for Baird and Warner, said Evanston has always been among the top 10 suburbs nationwide in real estate sales. People are paying large sums of money to move into the North Shore as quickly as they can, he said.

“A new condo being put up for sale is already attracting buyers,” he said. “Buyers are purchasing without even having seen a model.”

The national economy has a lot to do with an increased demand for property, said Gretchen Brewster, a sales associate at Prairie Shore Properties Inc. With so few homes available, especially in places like Evanston, people will pay the necessary price to get the property they want, she added.

Eckersall agreed and said prices have risen dramatically during the past two years.

“I recently sold a house for $100,000 more than I priced it at two years ago,” she said. “What’s more unbelievable is that it sold, after being put up for sale, in less than 24 hours.”

Single-family homes and condominiums are in the greatest demand, said Dan Schermerhorn, a realtor for Schermerhorn&Co. With a limited supply of homes, single families are prone to invest in whatever is available first.

“Right now everyone wants to live in and around the Chicago metropolitan area,” Schermerhorn said.

And because the market is so tight, people will move into houses and apartments that aren’t in good condition and renovate them, Eckersall said.

Schermerhorn said home and condominium sales in Evanston remain high despite soaring property taxes, which make up 1 to 2 1/2 percent of each property value. Evanston/Skokie School District 65 and Evanston Township High School District 202 are some of the greatest reasons why couples looking to start families choose to live in a place like Evanston, she added.

“These schools are a reflection of the community’s racial and ethnic diversity as well as our financial diversity,” Brewster said.

Many young families purchase their first home in Evanston precisely because they plan to raise children here, Eckersall said.

“They want a place where their kids can go to school and parks, a place where they can walk their dogs,” she said. “Evanston is just the place.”