How Affordable Housing Can Boost Property Values
Date Posted: July 10, 2017
Posted In: Ideas,
From ConstructionDIVE: Building affordable housing with federal tax credits in low-income, high-minority communities can raise property values, lower crime rates and lead to greater racial and income integration, according to research from Stanford University.
Developers who build high-quality new housing can make an area more attractive to prospective residents who, in turn, could bring greater wealth to the community, according to The Washington Post.
In neighborhoods with a median annual income of less than $26,000, home values rose 6.5% within a tenth of a mile of a new affordable housing complex. Neighborhoods with median incomes of $54,000 or more, however, saw home values depreciate by 2.5% within the same distance.
Cities and states across the country continue to scramble to address the widening gap between the supply of affordable units and demand for them. In the U.S. and Canada, nine in 10 people say their countries need a solution to the lag in affordable housing, while 75% say the issue hasn’t received the attention it requires, according to a PSB survey in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity. What’s more, 84% of those surveyed in the U.S. say high housing costs are the largest barrier to homeownership and 69% say the federal government is not doing enough to improve access to affordable housing.
Already high – and rising – housing costs will remain a hurdle for those aiming to make the leap into homeownership, particularly as starter and trade-up home inventory continues to slide. The U.S. median home price rose 6.8% in May to $288,000, while the for-sale home supply reached its lowest level since 2010 at 2.7 months, according to Redfin.