By Adam Studzinski
NORMAL – The housing market’s effect on the national and local economy was the focus of B-N By The Numbers Thursday afternoon inside Illinois State’s Bone Student Center.
Chairman of the National Home Builders Association Ed Brady said housing has been a clear drag on the economy for the past decade.
“Housing is generated by jobs,” said Brady. “Job creation, new people coming into the community, helps create economic development, helps create home building and real estate to prosper.”
Brady explained every time they put up a new home, three fulltime jobs are created.
“It (housing) is a very intricate part of the economy,” said Brady. “We need to make sure that we’re creating jobs and therefore housing will help create jobs.”
Brady added the housing market has improved gradually in the past few years, but it’s still not near where it was at its peak.
“We’re still 25 percent of where we were at peak in McLean County,” he said.
The quarterly B-N By The Numbers lunch is put on by the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council to look at the current economic status of the area.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at adam.studzinski@cumulus.com.
