-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Illinois home prices, especially in the Chicago area, appreciated at the slowest pace in the nation last year, growing just below the rate of inflation. One of the fastest-growing areas in the nation, according to a new report, was right next door to Illinois.
The in-flow of Chicagoans is one of the key reasons behind the Gary area’s 7.9 percent increase in home prices year-over-year, according to an analysis of home price indices from the third quarter of 2019 by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, higher than all but six areas nationwide.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Gary is hot for two reasons: The first is Chicagoans from the south side are moving a few miles east over the border into Indiana because it’s cheaper and has less crime. Secondly, that Miller Beach summer home area is pretty hot too. So between the two, yeah, Gary is coming back strong.
…and Dems will tell you the 2 are unrelated. They must think 100% of Illinois residents are fools when it’s more like 60%.