Throughout the entire Chicagoland area, Will County ended 2017 with the biggest increase in home sales, according to a report from Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED). The number of homes sold in Will County increased 2.1 percent from the previous year, while the city of Chicago saw a 2 percent increase.

According to the data reported by Crain’s Chicago Business, a total of 10,861 homes sold in Will County in 2017. While the percentage gain was bigger in Will County than Chicago, the city saw 28,642 homes sold in 2017 due to the shear volume of available properties.

Home sales in the entire Chicagoland area combined were up 1.1 percent, totaling 101,383 sales in 2017.

The growth of home sales in the other Chicagoland communities was pretty much flat. In Cook County, which excludes the Chicago metro area, sales were up 0.8 percent compared with 2016. There were 36,653 home sales in the county last year.

Other suburban counties were even slower. DuPage County sales were up just 0.4 percent with 14,436 home sales in the year. Lake County sales were even less exciting, with just four more home sales reported in 2017 than in 2016. Home sales in Lake County came in at 10,791.

Will County Green Initiatives Continue to Grow

Will County is a designated SolSmart Gold community, which means that the local government has made it easy for a solar business to thrive. Beach Park, Chicago, and Evanston received the Gold designation, but Will is the only county to hold the designation in the state. The county earned the award for its efforts to simplify ordinances to make it easier for homeowners and businesses to use alternative energy. 

In fact, farms throughout Will County are swapping out traditional crops like corn and replacing them with solar farms. The Chicago Tribune reported on the trend in September, which can bring in $800 per-acre compared to $160 to $180 per-acre for traditional farm use. 

Cypress Creek Renewables currently has an agreement to convert 45 acres of a farm in Crete Township into a five MegaWatt solar farm, which has the capacity to generate enough power for 800 homes. Officials in Frankfort are considering a similar concept for a 32-acre solar farm that could power 1,200 homes.

While there are concerns among farmers and how solar farming could limit their ability to use the land, as Will County is “prime farmland,” it gives some an alternative to bring in more revenue.

In November 2017, a housing development proposal was in the works for the southwest suburban community of Lockport that would be the only net-zero subdivision in Will County and the largest in the Chicagoland area. The plan included 500 homes, townhomes, condos, and senior living homes.