NHC Statement in Response to Release of New Washington Metro Area Housing Study

1/13/2003

From: Michele Anapol of the NHC, 202-466-2121 ext. 226 Or manapol@nhc.org

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 -- Following is a statement by the executive director of the National Housing Conference (NHC), Conrad Egan, in response to the release of a new Washington metro area housing study by The Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University:

"A new study just released by The Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University reaffirms the immediate need to address the housing crunch facing the Washington metro area, revealing that the demand for new housing in the region is outpacing supply. Consequently, the study finds that the median home price in the region will rise from $177,000 in 2000 to a staggering $415,000 by 2025, with the projected shortfall of homes expected to reach more than 218,000 units - encouraging both suburban sprawl and longer commutes.

It is clear that affordable housing problems also stretch beyond the Washington region. Recently, the National Housing Conference's (NHC) research affiliate, the Center for Housing Policy, released a compelling study entitled America's Working Families and the Housing Landscape, which found that between 1997 and 2001 there has been a 67 percent rise in the number of households spending more than half their income on housing. Additionally, in its final report to Congress in May of last year entitled Meeting Our Nation's Housing Challenges, the bi-partisan, Congressionally-appointed Millennial Housing Commission found affordability to be the greatest housing challenge facing the nation. The Commission detailed the importance of housing to both communities and the nation, emphasizing that the development of housing has a major impact on the national economy, as well as the economic growth and health of regions and communities.

As a result, at the state and local level, NHC recommends an emphasis on proven tools to create affordable housing such as low-income housing tax credits, private activity bonds, inclusionary zoning, local levies, state and local housing trust funds, employer assisted housing and other techniques for raising revenue. On a national level, additional resources must be made available to either directly fund or leverage the dollars necessary to produce more affordable housing, or preserve the existing supply."

------ Formed in 1931, the National Housing Conference (NHC) is the nation's oldest public policy and housing advocacy organization. A coalition of affordable housing experts from the public and private sectors, it is an essential source of broad, nonpartisan information concerning national housing policy. For more information on NHC and its publications, go to http://www.nhc.org.