NEW HANOVER COUNTY — While progress has been made to the workforce housing market in Wilmington in recent years, there is still more to do.
READ MORE: 238 units covered in year 3 of county’s workforce housing program
That was the message from Tom Gale, the chair of the city and county Workforce Housing Advisory Committee — a six-member board founded in 2019. It meets once a month and develops workforce housing studies and public opinion surveys, creates public awareness around workforce housing, makes recommendations on procedures, processes, or policies and gives an annual report on the state of housing in the region.
Gale provided the latest update to area leaders earlier in the week on both successes and goals that should be tackled in coming years. He pointed to metrics from the Federal Housing Finance Agency noting the median home price is up 85% in seven years, with mortgage rates increasing from 4% to 7% since 2018.
As of today a $200,000 home once equaling a $1,000 monthly mortgage payment has increased by 140% — costing $340,000 with a $2,400 mortgage payment, Gale pinpointed. The median home price in New Hanover County is now $446,000.
However, homeowners aren’t the only ones bearing the burden; renters are affected as landlords endure heftier costs. Fair market rents have escalated from 2023, by $250 monthly for a two-bedroom and $330 for a three-bedroom unit.
“The problem we set out to tackle has only gotten more challenging,” he told county commissioners and city council members during his presentation.
Gale praised the city and county’s impact on affordable housing, noting a combined $80 million put toward the measures in recent years.
The county has devoted $15 million over five years — $3 million annually — to affordable housing, which is now in year three. This has helped usher in 664 units overall since, leading to a $131 million investment into the community.
In the last year only, the county’s programs brought in 238 affordable units, with 381 households utilizing GAP rental assistance programs. In the same time frame, the City of Wilmington has brought in 287 units and helped more than 18,000 individuals, Gale said.
Developments that have come online — Estrella Landing, Canopy Point and Haven Place — are indicators of progress, with Avenue Flats and Pierson Pointe breaking ground soon.
“The work isn’t done,” Gale said, pointing to an expected slowdown of housing supply in coming years, which again could cause escalation of prices.
By the North Carolina Housing Coalition‘s estimation, already over half of renters in the region and 23% of homeowners are housing-cost burdened. That means more than one-third of their income goes toward housing.
While median income has gone up 50%, Gale said it doesn’t mean wages have. This leads to displacement of lower- and middle-income households who can’t afford to live in New Hanover County. Roughly 52,000 people commute into the county daily, as it’s more affordable to live outside its bounds.
“Once they’ve relocated out of our community, trying to create solutions to bring them back becomes significantly harder,” Gale said, pointing to nurses, police officers, retail workers, waitstaff and others.
Commissioner Stephanie Walker agreed and said she saw her first 1,100-square-foot starter home, priced around $87,000 decades ago, now sold for the fifth time at triple the price.
“Gaps have to be closed,” she said. “Teachers move elsewhere and it will have a real impact on our economy.”
Ideas on furthering progress
The committee suggests local leaders continue to assess funding, policy and legislation, diversity of housing supply and focus on educational opportunities to keep up momentum. Some suggestions Gale gave included working with the New Hanover Community Endowment to set up a housing fund and leverage local, federal and private sources.
“This will help with things like land acquisition, gap financing and redevelopment costs,” he said.
He also prompted the county to continue its Workforce Housing Program past 2027, upping allocations to $5 million yearly.
The Workforce Housing Advisory Committee hosted a developer roundtable last year to garner feedback on the business side of this market as well. Gale, also a local realtor, told both government entities having more flexibility in parking restrictions could provide more affordable housing units in exchange; for instance lessening parking spaces for a percentage of more units. This would be in projects where residents are less likely to need parking.
He also pressed upon the importance of adding diversity to the housing stock. This could come with policy changes; for example reducing lot sizes to build small family units on infill lots.
Also suggested was utilizing the land trust model, which involves an organization owning land and leasing out property for home-building but also requiring those homes remain affordable long-term.
Gale expressed the need to provide more money for multi-family supportive housing, including people experiencing homelessness.
Finding new ways to fund programs is top-of-mind, especially as ARPA money from the Covid-19 pandemic has expired, which helped fill gaps — as has opioid settlement dollars.
“We encourage local funding being allocated to continue the programs,” Gale said.
He asked for the committee to be invited to the next joint meeting between the planning boards with the city and county. Gale told both county and city officials they weren’t invited to last year’s gathering.
“I don’t understand why you weren’t invited,” Mayor Pro Tem Clifford Barnett said during Tuesday’s city council meeting, noting he would make sure it happened next time.
Gale added the committee is also working on bringing an affordable housing summit with all area stakeholders to the forefront this spring.
“There are tremendous opportunities to learn, share and collaborate when we are all in the same room,” he said.
At the county’s commissioner meeting Monday, Commissioner Rob Zapple asked how the region should be balancing greenspace and open space.
“It seems at odds,” he added.
Gale said at the developer roundtable last year, the committee heard there should be a more regional approach to stormwater management and parks.
“We are not suggesting we develop every square each,” Gale clarified. “We need smart growth and some of that means density.”
For instance, he noted how buying a condo may suit a young worker more than the responsibility of owning a home.
He suggested the county expand or replicate the city’s Home Ownership Pool Loan Program, so more people throughout New Hanover can apply. The program helps low- to moderate-income households with $25,000 down-payment assistance for eligible participants.
Also helpful, Gale said, would be sending notifications to applicable homeowners who qualify for tax relief programs: “Assist them with their applications so they can more easily afford to stay in their homes.”
The committee requested government staff appoint someone to lead the charge in investigating fair housing complaints “as some other communities provide” and suggested a dedicated webpage to highlight housing services to better inform the public on what’s available.
An updated housing needs assessment is planned for 2025, according to the committee’s report. The last one completed in 2022 found 12,147 rental units were needed over the next 10 years and the gap in for-sale units was 16,875; these numbers were up by roughly 2,000 and 3,000 respectively from 2020’s report.
“We wouldn’t even be in this place, the county and city working on these projects, if the committee wasn’t here,” Mayor Bill Saffo lauded. “Continue with the work at hand — there is clearly a lot of work to be done.”
In WHAC’s report, it also suggests city and county representatives attend their monthly meetings to stay abreast on housing needs.
Tips or comments? Email info@localdailymedia.com.
Want to read more from PCD? Subscribe now and then sign up for our morning newsletter, Wilmington Wire, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.
