Shane Belew’s Post

Navigating the complexities of Ohio's housing market has never been more crucial, and the latest findings from the 2024 Ohio Housing Needs Assessment offer very compelling insights. As we delve into the data, it's clear that the path to homeownership in Ohio is becoming increasingly challenging. The homeownership rate has seen a decline, dropping to 64% by the end of 2022, with the median home price reaching a record $174,000. This trend raises important questions about the accessibility of housing for Ohioans across the spectrum. For renters, the situation presents its own set of challenges. With median gross rent escalating to $870 per month, the affordability and availability of rental units are pressing concerns that need addressing. Moreover, despite a notable 71% increase in multifamily housing construction, there remains a significant gap in the provision of affordable housing options for the state's lowest income residents. I extend my gratitude to ohiohome.org for providing these insightful statistics and analyses. It's essential that we, as a community, engage in discussions around these findings and collaborate on innovative solutions to ensure that affordable and accessible housing is a reality for all Ohioans. Let's come together to shape a future where housing in Ohio is not just a commodity, but a cornerstone of thriving communities. 🏡 #OhioHousing #HousingMarket #RealEstateInsights #CommunityEngagement

A good read on the housing and affordability phenomenon in Austin, Texas. But also digs into our dissonance around affordability and property values. "Sure, falling housing costs are an annoyance if you’re trying to sell your place in the next quarter, or if you’re a developer operating on the razor’s edge of profitability. But this outlook seems to set up a no-win situation. If rising rent prices are bad, but falling rent prices are also bad, what exactly are we supposed to root for in the U.S. housing market?" "This is a surprisingly complex question for Americans today. In the U.S., our houses are meant to perform contrary roles in society: shelter for today and investment vehicle for tomorrow. This approach creates a kind of temporal disjunction around the housing market, where what appears sensible for one generation (Please, no more construction near me, it’s annoying and could hurt my property values!) is calamitous for the next (Wait, there’s nowhere near me for my children to live!)." "The If homeownership is best understood as an investment, like equities, we should root for prices to go up. If housing is an essential good, like food and clothing, we should cheer when prices stay flat—or even when they fall. Instead, many Americans seem to think of a home as existing in a quantum superposition between a present-day necessity and a future asset." https://lnkd.in/euQeEYF9 #housing #affordability

Very important topic by Thesis Driven. I've been closely following this issue for more than 15 years through multiple lenses. The rent laws of 2019 (which my former team at The Real Deal thoroughly covered at the time) were an aggressive reaction to sharp class divides in New York coupled with the growing housing crisis. The fact that Andrew Cuomo signed the law under such immense pressures speaks volumes. The result has been disastrous for many landlords and tenants, overall. It's also been relatively benign for a number of property owners who have kept up with their maintenance and taken more measured steps with their rent increases. Loopholes have even allowed certain landlords to combine vacant apartments and set first new rents. So the lessons differ in some pockets of the city. The most important lesson: The private and public sectors need to collaborate in new ways to create a more functional and layered housing system that serves a wider group, from the most financially successful renters to single parents struggling to pay their bills. Until that happens stakeholders and tenants will grapple with push and pull, which is a sad outcome for one of the world's most influential cities.

2.4 million people live in New York's rent stabilized housing - more than the population of Houston. And it's in serious trouble. Today's Thesis Driven explores why. While rent stabilization has existed in New York for more than 100 years, the system was dramatically transformed in 2019 by new laws that limited how much owners could increase rents of units that had been vacated by tenants - a practice known as vacancy control. But the new laws also put strict limits on how much owners could increase rents to cover apartment renovations, capping renovation spend at $15,000 per unit regardless of the state of the apartment. This has led to a number of owners holding unrenovated apartments vacant, as it doesn't make financial sense to renovate them at current rents. An estimated 200,000 apartments have rents below operating expenses not counting debt service. Together, these reforms have thrown the rent stabilized housing market into disarray, leading to fire sales, defaults, foreclosures, and a lot of finger pointing. Today, you could buy a fully-tenanted, rent stabilized building in Brooklyn for far less than the value of the land. But you probably shouldn't, as there's no resolution on the horizon. The full letter (linked in the comments) dives deep into the current situation, where it might go from here, and lessons for real estate players in other markets. Thanks to Jay Martin and Stephen Smith for their help here!

This article speaks to the issue of how our elected officials are so conflicted by special interests influence that many of their proposed and adopted "solutions" are simply band-aid approaches that "kick the can down the road for a future generation to deal with. Veteran Housing Corp has been warning that the affordable housing industrial complex rife with special interest stakeholders has so permeated the housing industry at every level that it rivals that of the PENTAGON and the military-industrial complex. Veteran Housing Corp supports a top-to-bottom review of all local state, and federal housing programs and eliminate the ones that only provide temporary solutions to permanent problems. There are some states in the US and a number of countries that have established affordable housing programs that are self-supporting and actually work to eliminate their respective affordable housing and homelessness crises. #affordablehousing #rentcontrol #uscongress #affordablehomeownership #homelessness #homeless #veteranshelpingveterans #veterans #veteransupport

“Regular folks don’t get a seat at the table to make group decisions. To really thrive, you have to have everybody. The vibrancy of the city is the attraction. It shouldn’t be available only to certain people.” Last year, I was honored to be asked by Housing Kent to participate in their series of Lived Experience features. At first, I felt like I should not be trying to speak out among a group of people with stories that have been much more dire and trying than mine and my family's. But it became clear that my observations and journey are not dissimilar from anyone else, we've just been a bit more lucky. Luck should not figure into it. Housing should be equitable, and greed and gouging should be kept under control by regulators and government. As cities like the City of Grand Rapids grow, careful thoughtfulness must be applied to make that growth result in opportunity and potential prosperity for all. I know what it's like to see a city you love turn into a Frankenstein's Monster. That's what happened to my home town. Through sitting for this interview and other work I do in the community such as my service as VP at West Grand Neighborhood Organization, I am driven to help make Beer City USA a model for the world. But it takes everyone at the table, and humility from the wealthy to keep in mind that if they price everyone out of their city or county, there won't be anyone left to work in it and keep it running. We should all be deeply encouraged by the work taking place to combat the housing crisis at all levels for all people, but we cannot rest easy or sit on our laurels. We should all share our perspectives and join hands to continue making Kent County an amazing place to live - for everyone. https://lnkd.in/gNreVDGM

America faces a critical shortage of homes, a sentiment echoed by Freddie Mac. This scarcity is not just about roofs over heads; it's directly impacting our cost of living. Yet, despite the urgency, we're struggling to devise cohesive strategies to boost housing inventory. In Minnesota, the situation is particularly dire, with a staggering 45% decline in new apartment building constructions. This trend spells even greater challenges for our state in the years ahead. This article by The New York Times sheds light on this pressing issue and how this will most likely be tackled state by state vs. in Washington. Go check out Wagan Holdings recent post for insights into why investing in the Twin Cities might be a step towards addressing this housing crisis. https://lnkd.in/g8uqNR4p

excellent article. the 2019 law needs to be substantially amended or totally repealed. the state governmental bodies should have negotiated with owners instead of doing a governmental coup. the architects of the law clearly discriminated against owners. discriminated by occupation. if the housing crisis is to be solved, they need to work with the property owners instead of attacking us at every turn.

Well written and investigatived report. Unfortunately there are no reasonable resolutions in sight. While this continues to drag and play out the financial eco-system surrounding this segment of the market suffers. The money multiplier effect has stopped working. Just like an employee collects wages for their work and spends it at the butcher, the baker, and candlestick maker, a property owner collects rent and spends it with the painters, electricians, locksmiths, plumbers, carpenters, elevator repair/installers, tile men, etc… who then spend it the electrical supply house, plumbing supply house, tile supply house, lumber yard, paint store, etc… If you want to see the real carnage that no one is talking about, go see the supply houses. Start asking them “How’s business going and been going since 2019?” Then the real picture will emerge.

Interesting thoughts, worth a read: what if regulations cause policy failure - and how to fix them?