The U.S. housing market is lacking more than 300,000 affordable homes for middle income buyers, according to a study from the National Association of Realtors.
What’s happening nationwide is also happening in the Roanoke Valley. Roanoke City needs more than 4,000 housing units to make up for the supply deficiency, according to recent data presented to the Planning Commission. The commission heard and recommended proposed changes to the city’s zoning ordinances that could add more affordable housing for low-income and middle-income families.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, explained rent continues to go up across the country.
“There are simply not enough homes to house the growing population in America and consequently, we are seeing significant rise in rent over the past two years,” Yun said.
Yun studies housing trends and explained one reason we’re in an affordable housing crisis is from the lack of home building.
“There’s been underproduction for almost a decade,” Yun said. “From 2010 to 2020, right before COVID, we estimated that there’s roughly a 5 million to 6 million housing units’ deficit in relation to the job creation that occurred in the country.”
The Co-President of Crea LLC, an affordable housing investment company, Tony Bertoldi, explained the low supply and increase in demand is pricing many people out.
“When you think about all the jobs that are available and the jobs that we need people to work in and the jobs that people have as they move up in their career, or if they might be in school or it might be just out of school, if they’re earning minimum wage, they can’t afford a market rate apartment in that market,” Bertoldi said.
In Roanoke, proposed zoning changes could make it easier for developers to build affordable housing in the city. City staff is considering changing zoning policies that act as a barrier for affordable developments. The city is also looking to add more middle housing options, like town homes, duplexes and multiplexes.
The changes were recommended by the city’s Planning Commission. A document outlining the proposals can be found here. Several community meetings were held before the presentation of the zoning amendments.
