(The Center Square) – In a review of new residential construction starts in the past year, Illinois had the fourth-worst decline, but while some areas posted significant declines, others reported major gains.
ConsutrctionCoverage.com reviewed data from across the country and found that since April 2019, Illinois has had a nearly 60 percent decline in new construction, or a total loss of nearly $248 million change in value.
Constructions starts in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin region dropped 54 percent, or a change in value of negative $177.8 million. That’s the seventh-worst of the large metro areas. The St. Louis Metro was 30th, losing $16.4 million change in value with 12.8 percent fewer starts.
Of all metro areas, Rockford had 50 percent decline over the year, ranked 34th worst.
Dean Graven, a life member of the Illinois Home Builders Association, said construction activity has been uneven across the state.
“I think the metro markets are just going to lag,” Graven said. “I think pent up demand will come, but I think it’s all the rules and regulations in the big cities. Down here, the money’s there, the interest rates are there, and I think demand is there.”
For all small metro areas, Champaign-Urbana had the fourth-worst decline with an 83.2 percent drop and a negative change in value of $37.9 million.
On the flip side, Bloomington’s new starts increased ten times from the year before, from six starts in 2019 to 68 starts in 2020, or a positive change in value of $9.5 million. That made it the best performer in all metro areas.
Graven said he’s heard other areas downstate have reported strong demand.
“I know for a fact talking with Realtor their new construction inventory is an all-time low, so what we put on the market, we’re selling,” Graven said.
But, he said to increase demand elsewhere, more jobs are needed.
“We’re going to have to have some development with employment before we have any development for residential,” Graven said.
