Affordable Housing

[Cratedigger]

While not the only solution, Austin is demonstrating that building significantly more housing leads to lower rents.
Over the past couple years the city has led the nation is apartment construction as a share of supply and rent prices have meaningfully declined

https://austin.culturemap.com/news/real ... uary-2024/

[langosta]

WSJ has an article out about how affordable housing funding programs are not being used because the added requirements cause building costs to sky rocket. Article had examples of 50% cheaper to build on your own vs to build with public money set aside for affordable. The returns are still near zero to do on your own but at least you can get more of an impact and hope for economies of scale by building more total units.

[FangKC]

The Guadalupe Center is building new affordable housing on its campus at Truman and Hardesty (the former Saint Paul's School of Theology).

Guadalupe Centers Breaks Ground on Affordable Housing Initiative

Guadalupe Centers Inc.(GCI) recently broke ground on a new affordable housing initiative, named “Guadalupe Apartments,” situated at 1616 Hardesty Ave, on the southeast corner of the Guadalupe Center school campus. This development, comprising 50 mixed-income one and two-bedroom units, will address the pressing need for affordable housing in the Kansas City community.

The construction is already underway and is expected to be completed by April 2025.
...

https://northeastnews.net/pages/guadalu ... nitiative/

[FangKC]

Kansas City is listed among the top 10 best markets for first-time home buyers.

Top 10 markets for first-time home buyers in 2024

St. Louis
Detroit
Minneapolis
Indianapolis
Austin
Pittsburgh
San Antonio
Birmingham
Kansas City
Baltimore

https://zillow.mediaroom.com/2024-04-04 ... ome-buyers

[mjbauer95]

Kansas City homeowners don’t want to sell. It's making the housing shortage worse:

https://www.kcur.org/housing-developmen ... tage-worse

[FangKC]

More houses might be placed on the market if there were targeted developments for rental and owner dwellings for seniors. They could take their cash from the sale and buy their new smaller home, so the interest rate issue might not apply to them.

Many seniors stay in large family homes. There might be only one or two living there and it's a 4-bedroom house. They pay all the maintenance and utility bills. Many stay because they don't want to leave a familiar neighborhood. If we created more small homes for them near their current home on transit routes, they might be more willing to give up a large house.

Many vacant residential lots are large enough to subdivide and place two small houses there. This minimizes large yards to maintain.

[maison rustique]

More houses might be placed on the market if there were targeted developments for rental and owner dwellings for seniors. They could take their cash from the sale and buy their new smaller home, so the interest rate issue might not apply to them.

Many seniors stay in large family homes. There might be only one or two living there and it's a 4-bedroom house. They pay all the maintenance and utility bills. Many stay because they don't want to leave a familiar neighborhood. If we created more small homes for them near their current home on transit routes, they might be more willing to give up a large house.

Many vacant residential lots are large enough to subdivide and place two small houses there. This minimizes large yards to maintain.

Yes. As an elderly person who is now living alone in a 4 bedroom 3 1/2 bath home with a large lot, I am desperate to get unburdened from this place. My husband wasn't able to do anything around here for the 2 years prior to his going into memory care and I couldn't maintain it on my own. I'm trying to get downsized and packed so I can list it this summer, but when I look around for a place half this size, it is not easy. I must buy because due to the cost of my husband's care, if he lives more than about 3 years, he will be forced to go on Medicaid and they will take any money, but not my home.

Affordable housing for seniors (both rental and for sale) is a huge issue as more and more of us boomers require it.

[Metro]

It will be interesting to see what if any effect Lucas's migrant policy has on the cost of housing in KC

[FangKC]

I doubt the number of migrants will have a significant effect on the cost of housing in KC. Factors having a much greater effect are Interest rates, the lack of experienced developers, the lack of construction workers, and the escalating cost of building materials.

Migrants taking construction jobs might help alleviate developers' problems getting jobs started or done on time.

[FangKC]

More houses might be placed on the market if there were targeted developments for rental and owner dwellings for seniors. They could take their cash from the sale and buy their new smaller home, so the interest rate issue might not apply to them.

Many seniors stay in large family homes. There might be only one or two living there and it's a 4-bedroom house. They pay all the maintenance and utility bills. Many stay because they don't want to leave a familiar neighborhood. If we created more small homes for them near their current home on transit routes, they might be more willing to give up a large house.

Many vacant residential lots are large enough to subdivide and place two small houses there. This minimizes large yards to maintain.

Yes. As an elderly person who is now living alone in a 4 bedroom 3 1/2 bath home with a large lot, I am desperate to get unburdened from this place. My husband wasn't able to do anything around here for the 2 years prior to his going into memory care and I couldn't maintain it on my own. I'm trying to get downsized and packed so I can list it this summer, but when I look around for a place half this size, it is not easy. I must buy because due to the cost of my husband's care, if he lives more than about 3 years, he will be forced to go on Medicaid and they will take any money, but not my home.

Affordable housing for seniors (both rental and for sale) is a huge issue as more and more of us boomers require it.

I know several people who are experiencing the same thing Maison Rustique. Finding a small house or condo is difficult in such a competitive market. There are a lot more people living alone today than in past decades. Developers don't build new houses for them--just rental apartments.