affordable housing viewed as top priority in industry survey

Almost 75 percent of respondents in a new survey sponsored by the Washington-based National Association of Home Builders say that the country is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis.

Even more, those respondents indicated that the problem is not simply theoretical, but one they are seeing firsthand, saying that the need for new affordable housing exists within their own communities.

More than 2,200 adults were surveyed in a poll that included input from all parts of the country in late November. The results of that survey indicate that a large 68 percent believe housing affordability is an issue in their state, with 54 percent saying it is a matter of concern in their own neighborhoods.

In a statement, Randy Noel, the chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, said the survey supports “what builders from across the nation have been warning about—that housing affordability is an increasingly serious problem in communities across America.”

Despite popular conceptions that housing affordability challenges are confined to only urban areas, the survey also revealed that 64 percent said it was a problem in middle class neighborhoods, and 56 percent said the challenge even exists in rural parts of the country.

An earlier study by the association indicated that just under 33 percent of the more than 119 existing households in the U.S. today are currently defined as cost-burdened, with more than 30 percent of income going to housing costs.

Continues Noel: “A mix of regulatory barriers, ill-considered public policy, and challenging market conditions is driving up costs and making it increasingly difficult for builders to produce homes that are affordable to low and moderate-income families.”

The association has pointed out that up to a fourth of the cost of building a single-family home, and just under a third of constructing a multifamily, is absorbed by national, state, and local regulatory requirements.

By Garry Boulard

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