LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – In this year’s State of the State address, Governor Gretchen Whitmer laid out her goals to address increasing housing costs and shortages, a $1.4 billion investment to build and rehabilitate nearly 10 thousand homes.
Data from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) shows that median rent costs have been on the rise since 2019.
David Allen, manager with MSHDA’s Market Research office explained that there are multiple factors contributing to the increase in housing costs.
The 1.4 billion dollar plan from the governor would address issues when it comes to a lack of vacant, for-sale, units on the market.
“Those increased in 2022 dollars by 6.1% over that period of time. At the same time renters’ incomes have only increased by 2.7%,” Allen said. “The demand, we see the demand levers pretty strong. Supply, if you build enough, should act to decrease the price that folks are going to be paying for housing.”
The efforts from the governor have raised concerns from some who are worried about overloading contractors and construction workers who already have a backlog of homes waiting to be built.
Allen said the state of Michigan has kind of been behind the 8 ball a bit in terms of contractors and contracting for quite some time, explaining that, in Michigan, the construction industry never quite bounced back from the number of workers who left the state following the 2008 recession to find jobs.
Housing shortages, particularly the lack of affordable housing all over the state, have drawn attention to the issue. Allen says that attention is a good thing and has allowed MSHDA easier access to new housing solutions.
“Stable housing will help you get the education that you might not be able to otherwise. Stable housing makes it possible for you to hold down a job, to raise your family.” Allen said. “The state needs kind of like a broad approach to fixing this issue. We’re not necessarily just talking about adding more rentals or adding more homeownership units, we’re talking about adding a whole range of housing choices to the markets.”
Allen said that by attracting more workers and building a wide range of housing options, they hope to drive down costs and create some relief for the state housing affordability crisis.
