As housing inventories remain low in Illinois, and with an abundance of overall economic uncertainty, a new survey shows a majority of people are concerned about a housing crash.
Clever Real Estate reports that 70% of those asked worry about a housing market crash this year, and one in three are worried they won’t be able to afford their housing payments as a result of the economic climate.
“Tariffs obviously, the federal government changes and cuts, just overall economic uncertainty and people seem pretty scared about what’s going on and for more homeowners, except for Gen-Z and younger homeowners, they all lived through the Great Recession and know what a housing crash looks like,” said researcher Nick Pisano.
Pisano said the current climate is keeping some would-be homebuyers on the sidelines.
“We found that about one in four people who planned on buying a home this year are now delaying those plans, specifically about expectations about the economy this year,” said Pisano.
In Illinois, a lack of inventory is dragging on home sales. According to Illinois Realtors, home sales were stagnant in February statewide. In February 2025, statewide home sales (including single-family homes and condominiums) of 7,698 homes sold was nearly identical to February 2024.
The lack of inventory is driving home prices up. The monthly median price of a home of $283,000 in February was 6% higher than a year ago.
Pisano said the housing market is in better shape than it was during the housing bubble 17 years ago.
“There is a lot lower risk overall for a system-wide housing crash than in 2008 in the sense that homeowners have a lot more equity, they’re rates tend to be a lot lower,” said Pisano. “A lot of them have them in the threes and fours.”
According to Redfin, the U.S. housing market is showing a significant slowdown with homes taking 47 days to sell in March 2025. That is the longest period in March since 2019. The slowdown is being attributed to sluggish demand and overpricing.
https://listwithclever.com/research/consumer-sentiment-2025/
