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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Gov. Josh Stein joins panel to discuss, debate housing affordability and supply crisis
Milner Commons is a 156-unit public/private venture on Russ Street in Raleigh is uilt to house seniors 55 and older with modest incomes. (Photo: Greg Childress) High construction costs, labor shortages and supply chain issues all contribute to soaring housing costs and supply shortages, Gov. Josh Stein said Tuesday. But the state's growing popularity as a destination for transplants is also a big part of the problem, Stein said. The governor noted that North Carolina is the third fastest growing state since the last census. The state, he said, added more people than any other except Texas and Florida. 'There are just a lot of people moving here and houses aren't being built fast enough,' Stein said. When people move to North Carolina, Stein said, they need a place to stay and when there is a shortage of available units, newcomers, who often come with higher salaries and larger bank accounts, are willing to pay more for housing. 'And then it means everybody else is left to struggle,' he said. Stein made his remarks during a roundtable discussion in Raleigh with more than a half-dozen housing experts and elected officials. The event was held at Milner Commons, a 156-unit public/private venture on Russ Street in Raleigh that was built to house seniors 55 and older with modest incomes. Tuesday's meeting was an opportunity for Stein to discuss solutions to the housing crisis with housing experts and local officials and to consider legislation and public policy initiatives to speed up the building process to boost the state's housing supply. 'Our state is growing, and people need a safe and affordable place to live,' Stein said. 'We will remain focused on identifying solutions to lower the cost of housing for North Carolinians at every stage of life and work to ensure every person has a safe place to call home.' The housing crisis in North Carolina is real. The state faces a five-year housing inventory gap of 764,478 units (322,360 rental units and 442,118 for-sale units), according to a recent statewide report commissioned by the NC Chamber Foundation, NC REALTORS and the N.C. Homebuilders Association. And across the country, people, particularly those with low incomes, are finding rents increasingly unaffordable. A recent report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) found a national shortage of 7.1 million affordable and available rental homes for extremely low-income renter households – those with incomes at or below the poverty level or 30% of their area median income, whichever is greater. This means that there are just 35 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households nationwide. North Carolina was slightly better off than the nation as a whole, but only slightly. The report revealed that only 41 affordable and available rental homes are available for every 100 of the 332,199 extremely low-income households in the state. Even though Milner Commons is considered an affordable property, Yolanda Winstead, president and CEO of DHIC, the nonprofit that developed the senior community, said the rents are higher than DHIC would like because construction costs grew and interest rates continued to increase during the development process. 'With those things happening in real time as we're trying to get it on the ground, we had to fill the gaps that we experienced,' Winstead said. Raleigh City Councilman Corey Branch said affordable housing developers are facing funding challenges that require government assistance due to higher construction costs and other development obstacles. 'A lot of the costs developers are facing, people don't see,' Branch said. 'So those are the things that we see and continue to put money into … but if you raise property taxes, then you're impacting the people you're trying to help.' Samuel Gunter, executive director of the NC Housing Coalition, said it is critical to focus on increasing the state's housing supply. 'If we're not fixing and making sure that we have enough supply, then all of the other stuff we do to subsidize and stabilize [housing] is just not going to go far,' Gunter said. Scott Farmer, executive director of the NC Housing Finance Agency, said the preservation of existing homes is often overlooked in the struggle to provide safe and affordable housing. One of the agency's most important tools is its Urgent Repair Program, which finances emergency repairs for low-income homeowners who are elderly or have disabilities and whose incomes are below 50% of the area media, Farmer said. 'We're able to go in and do small scale repairs to keep people in their homes,' Farmer said. 'Being able to open $17,000 to keep somebody in their house for an additional five years goes a long way toward saving those [state and federal] dollars because in an institutional setting, we know that's going to cost the state and federal government a lot more money.' Stein's proposed state budget included $60 million to leverage federal and private resources to build more housing for low-income families, veterans, seniors and people with disabilities, he said. His proposal also includes $15 million for the Workforce Loan Program to aid in the construction and repair of affordable housing. He said he supports bipartisan proposals in the General Assembly to cut red tape and make it easier to build more homes. Budgets advanced by state lawmakers, however, have not been nearly so ambitious. State Sen. Julie Mayfield (D-Buncombe) said getting legislation passed to ease construction restrictions has been difficult this legislative session. Mayfield has introduced several housing-related bills including one that would allow more mixed-used developments across the state. 'We're working on it, but we haven't gotten anything passed yet,' Mayfield said. 'It's a little challenging … but I'm not giving up until that gavel comes down.' Mayfield said voting to increase density in many communities across the state has proven to be a 'one-way ticket to getting unelected.' 'Now, there are enlightened communities like Raleigh and Chapel Hill and Durham and Asheville where that's not so much the case, but we have some communities who are not there.' As a fan of local government, Mayfield said she doesn't like telling local officials what to do. But adopting state laws to increase density could give resistant communities a much-needed nudge. 'These bills are not trying to be punitive to local governments; they're just trying to say we're [lawmakers] going to take this problem and pull it up here, so you don't have political risk around it anymore,' Mayfield said. Homebuilder D.R. Bryan said local ordinances restricting density slows the development process and makes it difficult to build multi-family homes, which helps to increase the housing supply. Another obstacle, Bryan said, is city and town employees who continue to work from home five years after the pandemic. He said the practice also slows the development process. Many builders prefer to meet face-to-face to discuss project rather than over Zoom, he said. 'The people who are reviewing our plans, we're having to communicate through email and maybe Zoom, and you just can't get it done,' Bryan said. 'You need to sit there and either have paper plans or a computer and say, 'OK, what do you mean here or there?''
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wake County to spend $18M to add and preserve affordable housing
Advocates rally for affordable housing in Raleigh earlier this month. (Photo: Greg Childress) Wake County is investing nearly $18 million into eight housing developments across the region as part of its commitment to make housing more affordable. The funding will help create and preserve 644 affordable homes for seniors, working families and individuals living on low and fixed incomes. 'This is one of the largest affordable housing investments we've made in a single year,' said Wake County Commissioner Safiyah Jackson. 'We know housing is the foundation for health, safety and economic opportunity. When investing in our own neighbors, the seniors, working families and individuals who live right here in Wake County, we're strengthening our entire community.' The 644 homes will exceed Wake County's goal to create and preserve 500 units annually. The funding comes through Wake County's 2025 Affordable Housing Development Program, which supports both Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and non-tax credit projects. A mix of federal and local dollars will support the following developments: Heritage Park Senior Phase IB (Raleigh) — $500,000 The Canopy (Cary) — $655.000 Abbey Spring (Apex) — $1.47 million Fisher Grove (Raleigh) — $3.3 million Chapanoke (Raleigh) — $7.1 million Biltmore Hills (Raleigh) — $1.4 million Friendship Station (Apex) — $480,000 Grosvenor Gardens (Raleigh) — $2.6 million Wake County selected the top-ranked proposals through an evaluation process that considers criteria including ability to serve residents at the lowest income levels, long-term affordability and overall quality and feasibility. Of the funded units: 208 homes will serve households making 50% or less of the area median income, or $61,150 a year for a family of four. 94 homes will serve households at 30% or less of the area median income, or $36,690 a year for a family of four. Most developments will remain affordable for 50 years or more. Projects receiving funding will submit final applications for tax credits to the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency in May, with award announcements in August 2025. Wake County is projected to need 110,689 new homes to meet demand by 2029, according to a recent report commissioned by the NC Chamber Foundation in partnership with the North Carolina Home Builders Association and NC REALTORS. Meanwhile, North Carolina is facing a five-year housing inventory gap of 764,478 units (322,360 rental units and 442,118 for-sale units). Across the nation, there is estimated shortage of approximately 3.8 million to 7.2 million homes. Housing experts say the shortage stems from a combination of factors, including population growth, limited new construction and stricter land-use regulations.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Statewide report: ‘North Carolina faces a significant housing inventory gap'
A mixed-income housing project under construction in Durham. (Photo: Greg Childress) North Carolina is facing a significant housing inventory gap across all income levels and geographic regions, according to a statewide report commissioned by the NC Chamber Foundation, NC REALTORS and the N.C. Homebuilders Association. The report, which was released this week, predicts the gap will increase with projected job and population growth. Addressing the gap could generate $489 billion in economic activity and create nearly 2.2 million jobs, the report said. 'Addressing North Carolina's significant housing supply gap is more than just meeting immediate demand; it's a critical investment in our state's future,' NC Chamber Foundation President Meredith Archie said in a statement. 'With projected population and job growth, accessible and available housing is essential to supporting our communities, strengthening infrastructure, and creating an environment where both workers and businesses can thrive.' The report details rental and for-sale housing supply inventory in each of the state's 100 counties for a five-year projection period from 2024 to 2029. Eighty counties have projected increases in the number of households, with the largest percent increases projected to occur in Brunswick (15.3%), Johnston (12.2%), and Currituck (11.3%) counties. Wake and Mecklenburg counties are projected to have the largest numerical increases in new households, totaling 41,241 and 35,676, respectively. Meanwhile, 20 counties have a projected decrease in the number of households, with individual declines that range from less than 0.1% (Vance County) to 3.0% (Northampton County). The research group Bowen National Research conducted the Housing Supply Gap analysis. Mike Walden, an emeritus professor of agricultural economics at NC State and a private consultant, conducted the economic impact analysis. Here are the report's key findings: The number of households in the state is projected to increase by 5% (218,160 households) between 2024 and 2029. North Carolina faces a five-year housing inventory gap of 764,478 units (322,360 rental units and 442,118 for-sale units). The state has an overall for-sale availability rate of 0.8%. This is well below the 2%-3% range of a 'healthy' market. Only nine counties, representing less than 10% of the state's counties, have a median list price under $200,000, making it likely that many lower income households, including first-time homebuyers, have difficulty finding affordable homes to purchase. The statewide vacancy rate for multifamily rental units is 5%. This is within the healthy market range of 4%-6%, but affordable rental programs show near-zero vacancies and over 41,000 households are on waitlists for affordable rental housing. 'The data and key findings of the housing study underscore not only the pressing need but also the urgency of implementing tangible solutions to bridge the housing inventory gap at all income levels across the state,' said NC REALTORS 2025 President John McPherson. The report concludes that North Carolina is too large, has too many differences among rural, urban and suburban areas and too many regional socioeconomic variations to develop a one-size-fits-all solution for all regions. 'However, there are many broad housing efforts that housing advocates across the state could consider when making efforts to address housing issues in the state,' the authors wrote. The authors made these recommendations: Educate the public, including decision-makers, on the housing characteristics, challenges and opportunities in North Carolina. Research other communities and states on possible approaches to address housing Issues. Encourage municipalities and counties to develop individual housing plans. Support efforts to preserve existing housing and encourage new residential development. Encourage local housing advocates to build organizational capacity. Leverage data from this statewide housing study to encourage and attract residential development. 'This report demonstrates the urgency of policy changes needed for housing and the financial benefits for the community and all levels of government,' said North Carolina Home Builders Association Executive Vice President Tim Minton.
