Monceau Real Estate

Approximately 80% of U.S. metro areas are facing a housing shortfalls. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released new data that analyzed the number of new housing permits issued per new job across 172 metro areas. A high index score shows that more jobs are being created than homes—a signal of an imbalanced market. A balanced market sees one single-family home permit for every two new jobs. So why the shortage? Here are some major challenges: - Limited construction workforce - Insufficient building permits - Restrictive zoning laws But there is some good news - this data is better than September 2023's analysis, indicating that inventory is improving.

Some people argue that we don't need to build middle-income workforce housing. Only low-income affordable housing. But major employers like Disney and Amazon needing a workforce say you are wrong. And they're doing something about it. Bravo. But they can only address a small share of the need. The need (and opportunity) is much broader. When it comes to workforce and affordable housing, it's not an either/or. It's a both/and. Here are some facts: 1) New apartment supply is generally concentrated at the top end of the market due to the high cost of new construction. (Remember: No one is discounting land, labor and materials just because you want to build affordable.) In fact, the typical household renting a newly built apartment in the U.S. brings home a household income north of $110,000. 2) Programs like LIHTC spur development for new low-income housing, typically those making <60% of the local area median income. Applying national numbers, that would amount to a household income below $45,000. 3) So that means those with household incomes between $45k to $110k generally aren't eligible to live in newly built apartments -- only older ones. And while today's new supply is tomorrow's Class B due to the filtering effect, there's still a finite supply and in varying degree of condition. And that's why Class B and Class C apartments tend to maintain lower vacancy rates than Class A. We should applaud Disney, Universal and Amazon for being part of the solution. But we can't stop there. Sen. Wyden has proposed (several times) a Middle Income Housing Tax Credit (MIHTC), but ironically, some housing advocates have opposed it on the grounds it would take resources away from low-income housing programs like LIHTC. Yet that's a false choice, as MIHTC funding would not take from LIHTC funding. It's bizarrely puzzling how MIHTC has turned some progressives into fiscal conservatives. Additionally: If workforce housing (aka "attainable housing") wasn't needed, why would these companies bother with all the work and cost of building housing for their workers? And the need isn't limited to big employers. Big cities across the country are having challenges hiring and retaining teachers, firefighters and other public servants due to a lack of middle-income housing. We need more affordable housing AND workforce housing. #housing #rentalhousing #affordablehousing #workforcehousing https://lnkd.in/gEaHESHs