Hundreds of Guard troops have begun assembling around Chicago following the administration’s latest order, sparking protests and legal challenges from local leaders.
Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker condemned the move as an “invasion,” while Trump publicly accused both of failing to protect federal agents. The confrontation has injected new uncertainty into a city still contending with sluggish home sales, falling downtown rents, and a fragile commercial property sector.
For mortgage professionals, the concern is less about the troops themselves than the signal they send to markets. “It definitely doesn’t help by any stretch of the imagination,” Glen Weinberg, managing partner at Fairview Commercial Lending, told Mortgage Professional America. “The unrest has had a profound effect on the core.”
Industry data show home prices in the Chicago metro area have grown just 2.8% over the past year—well below the national average—while inventory remains thin and consumer confidence softens. Suburban and exurban communities, by contrast, continue to see steady gains as demand drifts outward.
“I don’t think the president calling up National Guard troops unto itself is going to have a big impact,” Weinberg added. “But it definitely brings light to a situation that isn’t going to help market perception in that neighborhood. If you got National Guard troops because of this perception of crime, people are going to look elsewhere.”