Lessons from the MOWHA Conference

Last week, we had two staff members attend the 2021 Missouri Workforce Housing Association (MOWHA) Annual Conference. We are grateful for this opportunity to build relationships within the affordable housing industry and learn from the outstanding panelists, especially as we begin to adjust to the “post-Covid” reality.

Here are our key takeaways:

The US housing market does not have enough homes to meet current demand — and is short by 3.8 million, according to a new report from mortgage giant Freddie Mac. The supply crunch increased 52% between 2018 and the end of 2020, helping to drive up the price of homes in the US, according to the report, which was released in April 2021.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition compiles data for each state on housing needs. Here are Missouri’s stats: 

  • 27% or 215,751 renter households are extremely low income. 

  • $25,750 is the maximum income for a 4-person extremely low-income family in MO.  

  • Our state has a shortage of 122,075 rental homes affordable and available for extremely low income renters.  

  • $34,662 is the annual household income needed to afford a two-bedroom rental home at HUD’s Fair Market Rent

  • 65% of extremely low-income renter households have a severe housing cost burden.

In a Technical Update session, we heard about the DASH Act, The Decent, Affordable, Safe Housing for All Act, which includes proposals that would increase affordable housing production by 2 million affordable homes over the next decade.

Finally, affordable housing funders, developers, and insurance providers shared lessons learned over the past year, highlighting that

  • insurance providers are now requiring higher limits

  • a 25% increase in material costs is anticipated for 2022

  • suggest developers include a cushion for both costs and the construction timetable

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Despite rising costs and other complications caused by Covid, demand for affordable housing remains extremely high. We have to work together in order to produce the housing that our community needs. Use the link below to donate to TGNCDC and support our continued efforts to build, renovate, and manage affordable housing in our community.

Ella Gross