Employees with Wallace Building Contractors work on a new home near the intersection of Cruft and South 16th Streets earlier in October 2024. Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza
The housing shortage isn’t just a Hoosier phenomenon.
“Housing is an issue throughout the country, not just Indiana,” said Thrive West Central Executive Director Ryan Keller, who among those combating the issue locally with the ambitious Homes for the Future program.
Keller said the shortage began during the financial meltdown of 2008-09, when “a lot of developers left the business, and it’s been slow for developers to get back into the market. … It just takes time for the economy and private sector to recover from a major upset.”
Terre Haute and Vigo County have been helping Thrive battle the housing shortage for the past year with the aid of $10 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding, as well as money from the state’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative — or READI — as administered through the Wabash Valley Regional Development Authority.
The program provides funding for infrastructure to spur private development.
Keller said Thrive considers the city, the county and the RDA partners in the project.
“This year we have data indicating over 450 new or rehabbed housing units in the county,” said Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun.
“Our building permit reports indicate another 200 housing units have started construction organically without any grant funding from Thrive West Central and the American Rescue Plan Act.
“By utilizing our limited federal dollars to incentivize builders, we have increased housing unit production by almost 400%,” he added.
“This has been a top priority for the administration and we acknowledge the job is far from complete.”
Housing is an engine that helps propel a community forward, Sakbun said. “First and foremost, it is important to note that a strong housing plan and effort helps address a number of other community issues like school enrollment, population growth and public health,” he said. “We have spent the year working with a number of private developers on housing projects and several other projects have occurred organically, which is a good sign that the community is growing. We have some strong amenities that drive interest in our community.” Sakbun added, “Our economic development improvements have helped ensure the labor market is steady in West Central Indiana. But we need to start fully synchronizing housing, workforce development efforts, education and economic development to create a cohesive strategy that leads to continued success of the region.”
“Thrive is on track for our housing goals thus far,” Keller reported. “We have a regional goal to add 3,800-4,400 new housing units by 2030. By regional, we are looking at a seven-county area. … A year into our work, the community has seen about 650 housing units developed thus far in a three-county area. That’s a great pace for just getting started.”
Keller adapted a home-building approach that Heather Presley-Cowen of Capital Stacker put into play quite successfully in Fort Wayne, including Club 720, a program that brings builders, buyers, realtors and lenders together, which Thrive partnered with in September.
“Club 720 operates as a one-stop-shop, facilitating seamless interactions among all stakeholders in the housing market,” Presley-Cowen explained. “By bringing builders, buyers, realtors, and lenders into a single ecosystem, we’re reducing friction and making the housing process more efficient.”
Remax Broker owner Mark McCreery said, “For a period of time there were a lack of options for buyers. There have been a lot of different factors to getting to a stabilized market. The inventory is better, though it could have improved. The rates have improved. It used to be a seller’s market — it’s not a buyer’s market now, but it has stabilized.” He added, “Price range determines how quickly a home will leave the market, with $100,000-$300,000 homes going the fastest.”
Keller noted, “Many people use the words ‘affordable housing’ and many people think they are talking about affordable housing such as low-to-moderate income housing. “When the words ‘affordable housing’ are used, Thrive is referring to housing that is 35% or less of an individual’s/family’s gross income annually. Think of it as housing that is affordable. Nearly all of us live in housing that is affordable because lenders typically will not do a mortgage if the mortgage holder’s housing costs are greater than 35% of their gross income.
“So,” he continued, “most of the population with a mortgage live in housing that is affordable. There is a fine line that can easily be crossed when thinking about affordability and living beyond one’s means.
“With that said, more jobs typically add more pressure [which could be looked at as demand] to the housing market. This is a complex question because the types of jobs, quantity, wage scale and recruitment strategies all play a role when you look at the types of housing units that may be needed,” Keller said.
“We … have seen substantial increases in homes priced at all levels,” Sakbun said. “It is important to note that government, in my opinion, should not be dictating or forcing the builder community to create a product at one price or another.”
“Thrive focuses on terminology like Area Median Income to determine ranges of costs,” Keller said. “Thrive has data targets that illustrate the current breakdown of housing by income via our market potential analyses. Thrive’s goal is to create more market rate housing at 80% AMI and above. … Thrive works with the private sector to ensure the projects they are developing, or hope to develop, fit into ranges in our market potential analysis. Thrive currently has projects that fit all income ranges for affordability.”
Regardless of a home’s price point, Remax’s McCreery said, “A good quality listing is still selling quickly and receiving multiple offers.”
“While we have made progress, we cannot let our foot off the gas,” said Sakbun. “Local government should never try to be good at their jobs. The taxpayers pay us to be great. Our efforts will not slow down and only increase until we hit our target of 2,600 housing units in a three year span. … There is a buzz going around about Terre Haute. We are finally seeing Hoosiers and others from across the nation choose our city to live and raise a family.”
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