The problem is structural. Origination costs are largely fixed, so on a $90,000 loan they consume a much larger share of the transaction than on a $400,000 one, and points-and-fees caps expressed as percentages become binding constraints rather than consumer protections. Lenders respond by not making the loan.

The practical consequence in Illinois is a two-tier market inside the same building type: units that cash buyers and investors purchase, and units that owner-occupants cannot finance. That drives investor concentration — which in turn affects project eligibility, which affects everyone else's ability to sell.

The adaptive-reuse pilot

The RESIDE Act pilot is the vehicle by which downtown Chicago office conversions could add condominium and co-op inventory. Chicago has an unusually large stock of underused older office space and an established conversion pipeline, so this is a piece of federal law with a specific Illinois application.

The caveat that governs all of it

Federal agencies will take months to finalize regulations and issue detailed guidance, and no timelines have been published. Nothing here is operative for a buyer or a board today.

Progressive critics objected that exempting build-to-rent and renovate-to-rent from the 350-home cap weakened the tenant protections the provision was meant to deliver.

What it does not do

It does not address the thing most likely to affect an Illinois condominium's financeability in the next twelve months. That is the GSEs' 2026 project-standard overhaul — Limited Review retired from August 3, 2026, a $50,000 per-unit master-policy deductible ceiling, budgets required to reflect the highest recommended reserve allocation, and delinquency ceilings at 15%.

Those are underwriting standards, not statute, and this Act does not touch them. CAI is separately lobbying Congress and FHFA for a one-year delay of the GSE changes.

What it means for a board

Very little, immediately — and one thing over the medium term. If small-dollar lending genuinely improves, the buyer pool for lower-priced units in your building widens, and owner-occupancy ratios stabilise. That is the outcome boards want, because owner-occupancy is an input to project eligibility.

But it is contingent on rulemaking that has not started, and it gives a board no basis to defer any decision on reserves, deductibles or collections.

What to watch next

The implementing regulations, particularly on the points-and-fees re-evaluation and the FHA appraisal changes — and whether the RESIDE pilot's first awards include Chicago conversions.