Unaffordable Housing: How do states step in?

The CSG East Council on Communities of Color is bringing back its popular Microsummit Series. New episodes re-start as a LIVE webinar and broadcast mix beginning this Friday, December 2, 2022 at 10am ET. Our latest focus will be “Unaffordable Housing: How do states step in?”

This installment was produced in partnership with WURD and theBEnote.com.

The Council on Communities of Color Microsummits are co-produced by the B|E Note B|Estates project and moderated by CSG East Senior Fellow Charles Ellison. It is a unique convening of state and local policy makers, experts, and thinkers concerned about ongoing equity gaps and how to close them.

According to recent data released by Redfin, the average annual income needed to purchase a median-priced home in the United States rose from $74,000 in 2021 to $107,000 today, -an astonishing increase of 46 percent. Rents rose 23 percent from the second quarter of 2019 to the same quarter this year, according to Axios, as landlords passed on costs to tenants. Meanwhile, wages are falling on average. With housing so expensive, how can people and families afford it? Where do people live? What are some solutions we need to start looking at? What can communities do? And, since this is a problem having an impact not only on cities, but also on suburban, exurban, and rural areas, too. What role do states and their policymakers play?