(The Center Square) – 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/

(The Center Square) — After the Florida House Ways and Means Committee filed a $43 million tax cut bill, House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, assured voters this week that Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Senate and the House will come to an agreement on tax relief.

“We (have the same mission, we just have different ways of getting there,” Perez said. “If we don’t get there today, we will get there eventually.”

Perez started his availability by calling DeSantis a liar after he accused House members of not meeting with two women whose state trooper husbands were shot in the line of duty, one fatally.

Perez said that was a lie because he met with both women, had a “great conversation” and he took offense to DeSantis’ accusation.

“From the governor and it seems we’re getting into this regularity where he has a temper tantrum, he gets in front of a camera and he starts to do one of two things either spew lies and willingly choosing to lie about what he is telling people in front of a camera,” Perez said. “Or he is choosing not to read the bills or look at our budget. I’m not going to allow him to lie. I will speak my mind and give you my opinion. The House will not be bullied. Disagreements are OK, it’s what makes this country so special.”

The speaker did later sound a conciliatory tone, saying he considers the governor a partner, wants a professional and cordial relationship and that he’d never speak ill of him.

The House and the governor remain far apart on tax relief.

The House passed a sales tax cut bill in March that would slice the state’s rate from 6% to 5.25%, while DeSantis wants a one-time property tax rebate for homeowners and a ballot initiative to provide permanent relief on the 2026 ballot. 

The House continues to examine more tax relief measures. 

The Ways and Means Committee filed House Bill 7033, a committee measure that would exempt the sale of gold, silver and platinum bullion from the state’s sales tax and would have some changes with property tax assessments. 

If HB7033 becomes law, a property appraiser would be required to present evidence to a homeowner at least 15 days before a hearing. The bill would also eliminate the requirement that it be done in writing and would allow a homeowner to attend the hearing either via videoconference or telephone. 

The bill would also end the opt-out provision for what lawmakers term the affordable housing “missing middle” exemption from ad valorem taxes, thus making this provision of the 2024 Live Local Act mandatory for all Florida municipalities and counties. 

“You have a House that passed the largest tax cut in the history of the state,” Perez said at post-session media availability Wednesday. “A budget lower than last year’s and a budget lower this his, (DeSantis) quite frankly. And he’s going to say we’re RINOs (Republicans in name only) and we’re liberals.”

The first-year House speaker said that of the veto overrides that DeSantis accused House GOP members of siding with Democrats, one of those projects was vetoed by the governor and later funded by him, which Perez said was “hypocritical and disingenuous.”

(The Center Square) – The Texas House for the first time in state history passed a school choice bill after previous attempts failed in multiple legislative sessions.

The House passed SB 2, filed by state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, and its companion legislation filed by state Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Killeen, after 15 hours of being in session on Wednesday. After eight hours of debate that went into the early morning hours on Thursday, the measure passed along party lines by a vote of 85-63.

Gov. Greg Abbott lauded the bill’s passage after largely being responsible for it. In the last legislative session, he targeted 21 House Republicans who opposed the earlier measure, 16 of whom ran for reelection and lost to candidates he supported and campaigned for. After those Republicans won contentious primaries and vowed to vote for the school choice bill, they were sworn into office in January and followed through on their commitment.

“For the first time in Texas history, our state has passed a universal school choice bill out of both chambers in the Texas Legislature,” Abbott said. “This is an extraordinary victory for the thousands of parents who have advocated for more choices when it comes to the education of their children. Texas could not have accomplished this without the hard work and unwavering support from Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Speaker Dustin Burrows, Chairman Brandon Creighton, and Chairman Brad Buckley.”

He also said he will sign it as soon as it reaches his desk, which he argues creates “the largest day-one school choice program in the nation.”

House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, had said earlier in the session that the bill would pass and oversaw much of the proceedings on Wednesday. Throughout the legislative session, Burrows joined Abbott at events promoting the bill, The Center Square reported.

The bill creates the state’s first Education Savings Account program to provide taxpayer-funded subsidies for primarily low-income families of roughly $10,000 per student.

Both the Texas Senate and House proposed budgets allocating $1 billion for the program to support roughly 100,000 students, prioritizing low-income and special needs students, The Center Square reported. The savings accounts can be used by parents to send their children to the school of their choice, including private schools.

The ESA bill passed the House Education Committee two weeks ago along party lines after significant opposition was lodged by Republicans and Democrats statewide. The House passed Buckley’s education package, including the education funding bill creating the ESA, and others increasing teacher pay and implementing public school assessment and accountability processes.

Of the 44 amendments that reached the floor, Buckley blocked all of them by tabling them. Every time a Democrat proposed an amendment, debate ensued, a motion or point of order was filed, debate continued and then Buckley filed a motion to table the amendment. Republicans voted to kill each amendment by votes of roughly 80 to 60, until the last amendment was killed about 2 am on Thursday.

Closing arguments ensued with Republicans expressing support for the bill and Democrats opposing it.

One significant amendment filed by Democrat James Talarico, to allow the issue of school choice to be brought to voters as a ballot referendum, failed along party lines by a vote of 86-62.

The only House Republican who voted against tabling his measure was former House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont.

Ahead of the vote, President Donald Trump called Abbott, who met with House Republicans encouraging them to pass the bill.

“From rural communities to big cities, school choice will open doors in every region of our state,” Abbott said. “Every child in Texas deserves the education path that works best for them.”