While everyone knows Illinois faces a shortage of more than 142,000 homes, there needs to be a sense of urgency because the gap is widening. Without action soon, the housing shortage could more than double, putting additional pressure on affordability and economic growth statewide. This is not a future issue; it is already impacting workforce availability, business growth, and community stability.

We simply cannot afford to wait any longer to address the ever-growing housing shortage throughout the state. Action is needed now. That is why Illinois REALTORS® is launching the Illinois Housing Supply Accelerator Program. This program creates a vehicle for local partnership between mayors, city managers, REALTORS®, lenders and community voices where every community can identify and implement custom, ready-to-deploy solutions that are aimed at increasing housing supply and improving affordability.

Housing supply in Illinois is at a crisis level, and the growing shortage is creating a hardship for many people across the state. First-time home buyers are finding themselves priced out of the market. Our police officers, teachers and firefighters suffer from the lack of attainable housing options. Less construction means more renters who compete with each other with higher and higher rents for what few rentals remain. The bottom line is that people are suffering and our communities are losing – residents, housing stability and economic growth.

We’ve seen Congress act this year. We’ve seen the Governor acknowledge our supply crisis. And we’ve heard from Mayors that say they want to create local solutions. This is what we’ve been trying to accomplish: every level of government prioritizing housing and homeownership.

The housing shortage worsens every day, and communities need tools they can use as quickly as possible. We have developed a plan that partners stakeholders with their local municipalities to develop solutions that start us down the path of solving this crisis.