Housing crisis really? Well, that’s a surprise

No one really needed a $49,900, 127-page study to advise officials and residents of Worcester County that this area is experiencing a housing affordability crisis.

While such an undertaking does provide a factual underpinning of such an assertion, the survey conducted by Matrix Design Group at the state’s expense via a grant merely confirms what most people already knew: the gap between personal income and home sale prices grows ever wider.

In July 2024, RisMedia, publishers of Real Estate Magazine, reported that representatives of the National League of Cities, the American Planning Association and the National Association of Realtors had been meeting to determine what might be done to help the public and private sectors meet residents’ housing needs.

The result was Housing Supply Accelerator Playbook, a compendium of many steps that could be taken if a community, or government, was inclined to get serious about the situation and work toward alleviating at least some of the problem.

To be sure, there isn’t much government can do about raising wages for the under-employed, or at least those who wish to remain here even though job opportunities are limited. It also can’t do much to limit the sale of affordable properties to people who live here and barely have enough money to cover the monthly, as they say.

But it can get creative with zoning and other regulations, it can reduce the upfront costs the small developer must pay before even breaking ground, and it can experiment with financial arrangements.

Here’s what the Playbook says: “The playbook does not offer stand-alone solutions to the nation’s housing crisis. Rather, it offers a way forward for communities to address their pressing housing supply needs as identified by leaders and stakeholders in the communities themselves.”

And here’s the thing: It’s free and can be downloaded at //realtorparty.realtor/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Supply-Accelerator-Playbookv2.pdf