Nearly 20 years ago, my wife and I were in the market for a new-construction home. We looked at high-rise condos downtown, visited repurposed warehouses on the Northwest Side, watched modern three-story condo buildings sprout across Lincoln Park and Lakeview and reviewed brochures on new neighborhoods planned across the suburbs.

That white-hot new-construction market of the mid-2000s is not today’s reality. There’s been a pause on most new suburban single-family neighborhoods, and city projects are more sporadic than rampant. But there are new-construction properties hitting the market for those who are looking.

In this issue, we highlight some of those projects and delve into the state of Chicagoland new construction. Also in this issue, Carl Harris, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, explains why housing affordability is such a critical issue in the upcoming election. In our Top Coach column, Katie Morrell shares her tips for building an effective real estate team.

Be sure, too, to go to ChicagoAgentMagazine.com to see the standouts featured in this year’s Who’s Who in Chicagoland Residential Real Estate. I can’t wait for the upcoming launch party at 850 Lake Shore Dr. (what a view!).

Anyway, just to close the loop on that home search from almost 20 years ago, my wife and I bought a new-construction loft in Rogers Park. A few years later, with a toddler and baby in tow, we needed more space. That was at the peak of the Great Recession, and we sold our loft and took a loss. Hey, you win some, you lose some.

Other than our timing, we liked nearly everything about buying new construction, especially our ability to choose finishes and layout options as the building was going up. It was a great spot to launch our family.

The market may be different today, but there’s no doubt there are a lot of potential first-time buyers looking for what my wife and I found back then. As always, it’s up to the savvy agent to find those clients and connect them to the right deal.

Thanks for reading!