(Updated Dec. 16, 2024) Illinois REALTORS® CEO Jeff Baker joined Gov. JB Pritzker today at a press conference announcing the state’s new initiatives addressing “missing middle” housing in Illinois. Pritzker signed an executive order launching a statewide effort to accelerate plans to expand the supply and access of housing for working families in Illinois.
Jeff Baker leads the largest trade association advocating for housing affordability and stability and is a member of the Governor’s Missing Middle Housing Solutions Advisory Committee.
“Illinois REALTORS® commends the Governor’s commitment to housing and was proud to be a part of the Governor’s Missing Middle Housing Solutions Advisory Committee. The Director of Housing Solutions and the bold ideas in the Committee’s report are exactly what our state needs right now to bring housing stability to Illinois families and communities and to help more of our neighbors achieve the American Dream of homeownership.” Jeff Baker, CEO, Illinois REALTORS®
Read Gov. Pritzker’s full press release | Read the committee’s report
Watch Gov. Pritzker’s presentation below.
Baker spoke at the press conference in Chicago. Watch a video of his remarks and a full transcript of his comments are below:
Thank you, Governor Pritzker. It has been an honor for Illinois Realtors to work with this esteemed group to develop solutions addressing housing stability and affordability.
Illinois Realtors is the largest advocate for housing stability and ownership in the state. We fight every day for everyone to realize the American Dream of homeownership.
But what Governor Pritzker recognized and what we all agreed upon was that it goes beyond ownership. Our state’s housing shortage destabilizes families and communities. It doesn’t just prevent us from realizing the American Dream of homeownership, it drives more of us into the rental market, which itself suffers from low inventory and higher prices, or worse, out of our housing all together.
The housing economy is the state’s economy – as it slows, so do the economies of every city or town in Illinois that relies on sales taxes from all the transactions that come with the sale of a home, it distorts and depresses the property tax base when neighborhoods which are ripe for development are too expensive to build in, which in turn affects funding for public safety and schools.
The solutions the Committee has identified include everything from zoning changes to creating new ways to access capital for new construction. The solutions in the Governor’s report put Illinois on a path to reimagine the starter home and fill the missing middle gap in housing, which will bring stability to Illinois families and communities, and will lead to the creation of more intergenerational and equitable wealth.
And we again, just want to thank the Governor and the other Committee members for being behind bold ideas to increase housing stability and for supporting the American Dream of homeownership.
