Real Estate

A 279-acre property in northwest Normal will soon be even more appealing to commercial buyers looking for a prime spot near Rivian and the interstates.

The Bloomington Planning Commission on Wednesday voted unanimously to advance a plan for a new housing development near Rivian on the community’s far west edge.

Homebuilders in Bloomington-Normal are playing catch up in meeting the growth of the last decade, the more recent expansion of the labor market, and projected future growth.

Bloomington and Normal issued a combined 244 permits for new home construction in 2022. That’s up 51% from the year before, with more building planned for 2023.

A Black Illinois homeowner claims State Farm practices covert racial discrimination in how it processes claims. “State Farm does not treat its Black and white homeowners insurance policyholders equally,” states a federal lawsuit filed by Jacqueline Huskey of Matteson in south suburban Chicago.

There’s a lot more to the Bloomington-Normal real estate market than single-family homes. The commercial market includes office space, retail, industrial, and big apartments. And it's on its own cycle, typically following the residential market but several months behind.

Low inventory, a scramble for available homes, and rising prices characterized 2021 in the McLean, Livingston, DeWitt County region, according to the Mid-Illinois Association of Realtors.

In the first three months of this year 589 homes, condos, and zero lot line homes have sold in the Bloomington-Normal area, according to the Mid-Illinois Realtors Association. That’s an increase of 25.6%.

A group of 10 Central Illinois county clerks say they're against a proposal to raise a fee that funds housing authority grants because of discrepancies in data reporting and unequal distribution of grants across the state.

This story is part of a special episode of Sound Ideas airing March 12, marking the one-year anniversary of COVID's arrival in McLean County. Find more…