Sales of Chicago commercial buildings plunged in 2019: 'Everyone was asking me what's wrong with Chicago'

Investors cast a wary eye on Chicago last year, causing commercial property sales to plummet amid worries about property taxes, and adding to already mixed signals about the city's real estate outlook.

Sales of office, apartment, hotel and industrial buildings in the city totaled $8.07 billion in 2019, down from the post-recession peak of $16 billion a year earlier, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

With the dollar sales volume cut in half, last year was the worst year for commercial property sales since 2013, when transactions totaled $7.55 billion.

It was a far different story for the U.S. as a whole: The national dollar sales volume rose 2.7% last year, according to JLL.

Chicago's poor showing provides further evidence that anticipated Cook County property