As political candidates across the state and nation elocute their lofty campaign promises, vowing to improve everything from education to the economy and beyond, they would do well to pay attention to a crucial need that touches nearly every aspect of our population's well-being: housing. Specifically, the need for adequate, affordable rental homes. It's true that the quality of an area's housing stock - and the availability of acceptable abodes for all price points and income levels - profoundly affects a community's health. Children do better in school when they have safe, reliable housing; residents are able to contribute more to the economy when they are not weighed down by excessive housing costs; and people can more readily hold down employment when they are in a stable home. Yes, we recognize that personal responsibility dictates that people live within their means and work hard to provide for themselves and their families. But, according to a recent report released by Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, there just are not enough rental homes available for mid- to lower-income families and individuals. The 2016 State of The Nation's Housing Report, released at the end of June, is part of a nationally recognized program that provides a periodic assessment of the nation's housing outlook and summarizes important trends in the economics and demographics of housing. While this year's report has plenty of heartening news - including rising home prices (in turn leading to fewer underwater mortgages), household growth is climbing out of stagnation, the foreclosure rate is dipping drastically, and residential construction continues to gain momentum. This is all in line with NAHB's Builder Confidence Index, which closed out 2015 at its highest level in 10 years. But the big news that media outlets and researches alike gleaned from the report is the alarming gap between the vast number of renters in the market and the dwindling availability of apartments they can afford. Vacancy rates fell to just 7.1 percent in 2015, and with rent pricing climbing in response, the report observes that the rental market is the tightest it's been in three decades. That's bad news for millions of Americans opting to rent rather than own their homes - 36 percent to be exact, the largest percentage since the 1960s. The scarcity of apartments and rising rent costs are making it increasingly difficult for the average renter to afford housing. A household that pays more than 30 percent of their income (the generally accepted standard for affordable housing) toward housing expenses is considered "cost-burdened." While the share of cost-burdened homeowners has declined (thanks in part to the rash of foreclosures forcing many cost-burdened owners out of their homes in the past decade), the number of cost-burdened renters rose 3.6 million from 2008 to 2014, to an unprecedented 21.3 million. The researches made what they call an "even more troubling" observation as well:[T]he number with severe burdens (paying more than 50 percent of income for housing) jumped by 2.1 million to a record 11.4 million. The severely burdened share among thenation's 9.6 million lowest-income renters (earning less than $15,000) is particularly high at 72 percent. In all but a small share of markets, at least half of lowest-income renters have severe housing cost burdens. While nearly universal among lowest-income households, cost burdens are rapidly spreading among moderate-income households as well, especially in higher-cost coastal markets. (State of the Nation's Housing 2016, page 4) This isn't news to many of our members. We discussed this very issue in a blog post last summer, when local headlines were broadcasting this very issue. In that post, we circled the issue and all the factors surrounding it, from dissonant public perception of affordable housing to zoning woes to financing challenges. Many of these difficulties exist still, with nearly 50 percent of our 59,000+ renter households considered "cost burdened," according to the Joint Center's study.None of this is to say that multifamily construction is sputtering out. On the contrary, it is quite healthy across the nation, and even here in Lancaster County. Many of these communities, however, will serve a substantially higher-end market. Luxury apartments, while an easier sell to the community, are not meeting that crucial and growing need for our workforce families who aren't ready or able to buy a home, and who cannot readily afford a $1,000-plus monthly rent.As we said last year, there is no silver bullet easy answer to this conundrum. Building is a business, and you must build the products that allow your business to thrive. If awareness is the first step, then let your enlightenment on the issue drive you to be an advocate - in whatever fashion makes sense for you - for affordable housing. The conversation must stay alive in our industry, and together, with the creative minds and generous hearts that are part of our association, we can find new ways to make Lancaster County a place where all of our hard working citizens can thrive and feel at home.
