Housing Call: June 20, 2023 – North Carolina Housing Coalition

Last week’s Housing Matters included a post about NLIHC’s 2023 Out of Reach Report, which was published last Wednesday. This annual report highlights the mismatch between the wages people earn and the cost of housing at fair market prices across every state, county, non-metropolitan, and metropolitan area across the United States. If you’re interested in learning more about national trends, check out our blog on the website. This morning, we’re going to dive a little deeper into the NC-specific data and trends.

One of the ways this is done is by the establishment of a “housing wage” for each area. The housing wage is an annual estimate of the hourly wage full-time workers must earn to afford a rental home at fair market rent without spending more than 30% of their incomes.

The most expensive areas in North Carolina according to the OOR Housing Wage calculations are:

Most Expensive Areas in NC	2-Bedroom Housing Wage
Asheville	$28.19
Raleigh	$27.15
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia	$25.63
Currituck County	$25.56
Durham-Chapel Hill	$25.29

Between the 2022 and 2023 Out of Reach reports there were a few notable differences:

NC’s housing wage rose from $19.18 to $21.54 – an increase of $2.36 per hour. Meanwhile, wages have remained stagnant (BLS 2023).
Wilmington dropped out of the top 5 most expensive areas in NC, while Charlotte entered the ranking as the third most expensive area in NC.
- A family in Charlotte needs to make an additional $7,113 in 2023, just to afford a modest 2 bedroom apartment.

For more information, check out NLIHC.org/oor.

NCHC Update

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the 2023 NC Affordable Housing Conference on October 23–24 at the Raleigh Convention Center! This year’s conference promises exciting new breakout sessions, renowned speakers and a chance to network with affordable housing professionals from all across the state. Stay tuned as we provide more information in the coming months!

We are so excited to have Shane Phillips as our 2023 Housing Works keynote speaker! Shane is a researcher, public speaker and consultant on housing policy and affordability. He manages the Housing Initiative within the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies and he co-hosts the UCLA Housing Voice Podcast. He is also the author of The Affordable City. Visit our website to learn more!

Federal Updates

Advocacy Opportunity: Organizational Sign-On Letter from the Campaign for Housing & Community Development Funding: Urge Congress to Invest in Affordable Housing and Community Development Programs in Fiscal Year 2024

State Legislative Updates

Stephanie visited the General Assembly last week again to talk about housing investments in the NC FY23-25, as well as the bills that are still live and active that we’re tracking in the coming weeks. It appears the budget discussions are still ongoing and could take longer than originally anticipated.
- Check out our bill tracker here and our gallery of bills that survived crossover here. Reach out to us if you have any questions.
  - Remember that bills that made crossover are still live AND elements from other bills that did not make crossover still could make it into other bills and ultimately whatever final form of the budget for FY 23-25 that is reached.
  - You can find a full list of the bills that made crossover (not only the ones we are tracking) by clicking here.

State Updates

CAHEC’s Open Doors Homeownership Grant application cycle is open. Each year, the organization awards three grants to affordable housing nonprofits that develop housing for sale to low-income homeowners in areas CAHEC serves. This year, the funding focus area is to assist nonprofit developers in making universal design adaptations for elderly and/or special needs households. Check out the link in the call notes for more information. Applications are due July 31.

Local Updates

Watauga Community Housing Trust partners with Junaluska Heritage Association to fund house purchase | Local News | wataugademocrat.com | The Watauga Community Housing Trust recently partnered with Junaluska Heritage Association to purchase their first home. In keeping with the housing trust model, a 99-year ground lease between the Housing Trust and the homeowner will keep the single family home in historically-black Junaluska affordable at 80% AMI in perpetuity.
Town creates more affordable housing | Archives | thedigitalcourier.com | Rutherfordton Town Council recently approved the Town’s redevelopment commission’s request to issue an RFP for the development of affordable housing on 5 town-owned lots. Developers are encouraged to submit proposals that maximize the highest and best use of the land and to consider higher-density forms of housing like duplexes and triplexes. Check the Town’s website for additional information in the coming days.
City Launches $6.5 Million Nonprofit Supportive Housing Grant Pool | City of Charlotte | The city of Charlotte is issuing $6.5M in ARPA funds for nonprofits that run supportive housing programs that target people who are homeless, at-risk of homelessness, or facing housing instability. Nonprofits can apply for Nonprofit Supportive Housing Grant funding for affordable multifamily rental housing, affordable homeownership, supportive housing developments, emergency housing or non-congregate shelter, and supportive services.
South Creek development gets final approval CH Town Council | The Local Reporter.| Chapel Hill Town Council approved a major development last week that will add over 800 housing units both for sale and rent near Southern Village. 15% of townhomes and condominiums, as well as 10% of apartments are expected to be affordable.
How well is Raleigh managing growth? Here’s what a new city survey shows | Raleigh News & Observer | A survey conducted by the city of Raleigh indicates that 75% of respondents indicated that affordable housing was one of the 3 most significant issues facing the city. These results are in keeping with a similar survey Wake County recently conducted, which found that over half of residents indicated that affordable housing was a significant issue.
Central Garden Apartments brings affordable housing option to Goldsboro | Goldsboro Daily News | An 80-unit 2020 LIHTC deal that received almost $3M in Workforce Housing Loan Program (WHLP) gap financing opened in Goldsboro last week. As you may remember, the General Assembly allocated $170M in State and Local Fiscal Recovery funds to the Workforce Housing Loan (WHLP) program last summer to be used to address funding gaps for 2019 and 2020 LIHTC deals like this. One of our key policy agenda items is to continue to advocate for an increase in the WHLP allocation in the state budget and for this allocation to be recurring. As it currently stands, the WHLP program’s funding is not guaranteed every year, which means that in the event of a budget impasse, the program does not receive funding. This can be a major detractor to developers looking to create affordable housing in some of NC’s most rural areas, where WHLP funds are needed to make deals work.

Reports & Resources

Lifting a Powerful Policy Lever for Housing Justice | Stanford Social Innovation Review
Addressing Housing Challenges and Their Impacts on Community Health and Well-Being | National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership
Why Are Black and Latinx Homeowners Less Likely to Refinance Their Mortgages? | Urban Institute

Events

[webinar] The State of the Nation’s Housing 2023 | Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, 6/21, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
[in-person conference] Terwilliger Center 2023 Summit on Housing Supply Solutions | 6/22, Washington, D.C.
[webinar] Updates on the Inflation Reduction Act | Enterprise Community Partners, 6/29, 12-1:30 p.m.
[in-person] WNC Housing Forum | Land of Sky Regional Council, 7/14, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
[in-person conference ] National Fair Housing Alliance’s 2023 National Conference | 7/16-7/18, Washington, D.C.