What’s happening in Boulder County’s housing market, and what’s the impact of the high cost of living here? We recently hosted a salon for donors focused on the local effects of the national shortage of affordable housing – and what’s being done to address this growing concern.
What’s happening in Boulder County’s housing market, and what’s the impact of the high cost of living here? The Community Foundation recently hosted a salon for donors focused on the local effects of the national shortage of affordable housing – and what’s being done to address this growing concern.
“Affordable housing means an available supply of housing at every income level,” says Kevin Knapp, Principal at Element Properties where he leads the firm’s new construction and community development activities. Previously, Kevin worked in the affordable housing industry developing projects with Boulder Housing Partners – among his achievements was the development of the 59-unit Red Oak Park property that was primarily financed with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.
“Each community has their own specific challenges in response to housing,” continues Kevin. “Locally along the Front Range, houses can’t be built fast enough. Our population is growing, and there’s a diminishing supply of housing, along with land constraints.
“At the same time, there’s a shortage of construction workers, which means building costs are rising. And incomes aren’t keeping pace with rising rents and home values, sometimes 5-10% annually.”
That’s why the cities of Longmont and Boulder are collaborating with Boulder County on a regional plan to respond to our community’s affordable housing crisis. “Preservation of market-affordable properties is key,” Kevin says. “But what we’re seeing are properties that were built 40 or 50 years ago that are now being redeveloped to attract higher rents, instead of staying affordable.
“Funding for affordable housing is also crucial. In particular, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program helps create affordable communities with lower-than-market rents by offering tax incentives to property owners – but the uncertainty of potential tax reforms makes the availability of local resources more important than ever.
“Based on the common metric that a family should spend no more than 30% of income on housing, there’s no question about the need for affordable housing in Boulder County.”
Joining Kevin as panelists at the upcoming salon will be Leslie Durgin, member of the Boulder County Regional Housing Partnership; DB Wilson, Manger, RE/MAX of Boulder; and Longmont-based Marta Loachamin, a frequent contributor to our blog and a Boulder County bilingual REALTOR® with ERA Tradewind Real Estate, LLC.
Considering the myriad causes of temporary and permanent loss of housing in Boulder County in recent years, specifically in Longmont (e.g., the 2013 floods, changing demographics, and a booming population), Marta also notes that the mortgage crisis had already affected many local homeowners. “ConAgra layoffs and other employers who cut hours significantly exacerbated the effects of predatory lending, pushing people out of their homes. Some of these folks are just now considering their options after bankruptcy and foreclosures.”
The solution? As Marta points out, it’s not just about building new affordable homes. Instead, “how do we do a better job of opening up some of the resale homes around the county, like vacant rentals that aren’t being sold, and that could expand our ‘affordable’ inventory?”
Marta further notes the Fair Housing Act and asks, “How did we get to a place where we systematically push some people to the sidelines of building generational wealth by becoming homeowners?”
Indeed, the questions – and the answers – to the affordable housing crunch are many, and complex. To learn more, we invite you to explore and share these resources and additional information:
- Boulder County Regional Housing Partnership: Priorities and Strategies for Ensuring a Diverse Housing Inventory
- Catch up on this related episode of our Radio Show: Boulder County Housing
