This commentary by VHFA Executive Director Maura Collins appeared recently in VTDigger
New estimates show fewer young Vermonters are buying homes. Vermont currently has the sixth highest homeownership rate in the nation, with 71 percent of households owning their home, but a downturn among young buyers could have lasting negative effects on Vermont’s economy.
VPR and Vermont PBS have released the results of the annual Vermont Rural Life Survey, which polls households from all across Vermont about life in their communities and the daily challenges they face. Vermont has the second highest percentage of its population living in rural areas in the United States. The survey revealed challenges in affording decent quality housing, as well as concerns about the future of Vermont’s rural towns and cities.
Fall has started to arrive in Vermont, and with it is the return of many college students to the state. The impact of college students on local housing markets has long been a source of tension, particularly among long-term Burlington residents, who worry they may be priced out of housing by the large number of area students. By sharing an apartment and its rent bill, some students are able to pay higher rents than many other households. However, quantifying the impact of colleges on housing remains difficult for researchers.
Vermont home prices continued to climb in the first six months of 2019, based on the latest data from Vermont Property Transfer tax records. The median home sold for $219,500, a roughly 2% increase from 2018.
Sale prices increased for every home type in Vermont during the last six months. The median single family home sold for $226,500, the median condominium sold for $209,950, and the median mobile home with land sold for $80,000.
The economic recovery is being felt among many households, with home equity wealth rising and more Millennials becoming homeowners. However, gains in homeownership have not been equally distributed among all Americans. Homeownership among black households has risen at a slower pace any other group, and the rate is currently the lowest it has been since 1970.
Roughly 9,000 Vermont senior households receive some form of financial rental help compared to 8,000 younger households, according to a report recently completed by VHFA on the distribution of rental subsidies by age group.
Newly released data from the 2019 Point-in-Time Count showed 1,089 people experiencing homelessness in Vermont on a single evening this winter, which represents a 16 percent decrease from last year. However, the number of chronically homeless Vermonters increased substantially from 2018 to 2019, prompting concerns that existing services may be inadequate to support homeless households.
Vermont’s population has grown by just 0.1 percent since 2010, with a net increase of 555 people, according to the latest Census Bureau estimates. Vermont had the 48th smallest population increase among states in the nation, both in absolute numbers and percent increase.
A recent study illustrates how new market-rate housing construction in one part of town, especially in markets with low vacancy rates, improves housing affordability for lower income residents in other parts. This occurs because newly built homes and low-income neighborhoods are connected to each other via a complex housing ecosystem, according to economist Evan Mast’s recent study for the Upjohn Institute. Through address matching, Mast traced the chain of moves triggered when new homes are purchased.
The annual Burlington Young Professionals (BYP) survey conducted by the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce reveals that 33 percent of young adults surveyed plan to move out of the area within the next four years. Among the most common challenges cited were the high cost of living, lack of job growth opportunities, and a lack of affordable housing.