Urgent Solution Needed for America's 20-Year Housing Shortage

The cost of buying a house in New Mexico is lower than that in many other states. However, there is less inventory, and one data expert does not expect a building boom to return soon. 
 
Ali Wolf, Chief Economist for the data and consulting firm Zonda, noted that in the three years leading up to the 2008 Great Recession, homebuilders started about 2 million homes per year. Due to the financial crisis followed by the pandemic, housing starts never fully rebounded. 
 
"We are seeing reasonable levels of growth," Wolf explained. "A lot more construction in the Southeast and Southwest, but these regions are really trying to play catch-up with the amount of inmigration that they've seen." 
 
Since 2010, builders nationwide have started approximately 1 million new homes per year on average—far below the 1.6 million needed to keep pace with population growth. In New Mexico specifically, there is a shortage of rental houses affordable for extremely low-income households earning at or below poverty guidelines (30% area median income). 
 
Wolf argued that if builders felt comfortable they could sell a home then more inventory would be available. Similarly, developers need confidence someone will buy their land before preparing vacant lots for sale—a number that she says remains 40% under its pre-Great Recession level. 
 
"The building community is saying, 'We don't want to get over our skis,'" Wolf observed. ""I think we'll continue seeing growth in housing starts; I just don't think it will look anything similar to what we had seen prior to the great financial crisis." 
 
Federal housing assistance has traditionally focused on poverty—which helps New Mexican families where immigrants make up slightly over 11% of the labor force—but now also supports middle-class programs too. If elected Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris promises financial aid to both first-time homeowners and developers who build their own properties. 
 
In Denver's Globeville neighborhood, Renewal Village recently opened, featuring a converted Clarion Inn into permanent supportive and transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness. The project spearheaded by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless consists of 215 units. 
 
Darrell Watson, a Denver city council member, said his family frequently faced housing insecurity growing up, and his adult sister died while living on the streets. the streets.   He emphasized that this project is an important step in ensuring more people can escape cyclical homelessness. 
 
"Not just that, but they'll have a place to call home with supportive services they need to achieve more for themselves and their families," stressed Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.). Last year, over 75,000 Coloradans received homeless services in a state recently named as the eighth least affordable nationwide. 
 
Denver's mayor Mike Johnston pledged commitment towards creating opportunities like Renewal Village in future years: "When you've traveled a hard road, been on street or unhoused... this offers new hope again—that sense of renewal."