Illinois home prices have jumped 48% since 2018 while available housing inventory has plummeted across all 26 tracked metro areas, creating a housing crisis driven largely by restrictive zoning laws and the nation’s highest property taxes.
Policies that make building expensive have continued to choke Illinois’ housing supply, pushing more families away with high prices. Nearly $90K has been added to the average house price since 2018.
Rockford recently made headlines as the nation’s hottest housing market, but the real story is low supply is driving up prices. Changing zoning laws could spur development that would ease the shortage and prices.
Published Jan. 23, 2025 Chicago’s 2020 Additional Dwelling Unit Ordinance, while well-intentioned, has stifled development. Despite 71% of Chicagoans being in favor of putting additional dwelling units on existing residential lots – higher than the national average – restrictive and inequitable regulations have ensured very few are built.1 Only 44% of pre-approved applications have received...
Illinois’ housing price growth remains well below the national average because of lagging demand, caused in large part by tax policies that make people hesitant to spend.
Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.