Nonprofit creates housing affordability dashboard

Apr 9

Housing Kent, a nonprofit that supports the work of the Housing Stability Alliance's network of 130 individuals and organizations, has created a housing affordability index to track the health of Kent County's housing system. The first-of-its-kind dashboard is available to all Kent County residents and reports on homeownership and rental housing affordability, homelessness, and equity.

"The dashboard presents a clear overview of the housing issues and serves as an excellent tool for getting everyone on the same page about how we can partner together on solutions," said Eureka People, President, Housing Kent. "We want this data dashboard to debunk the thought that silos have been working and instead, uplift a platform for multi-sector collaboration, resource sharing, and data-driven innovations that improve outcomes."

Housing Kent data shows entry-level home prices increased by 126% between 2015 and 2022, while wages only increased by 26%. Additionally, an entry-level home in Kent County costs $205,707, which requires an annual income of $62,000, while the median income is only $42,740. Housing Kent hopes highlighting this data will ignite community action to spark the systemic change necessary to increase stability, security, and upward mobility through homeownership.

"This powerful new tool uses data to tell the story of how West Michigan is getting hit by the housing crisis," said Amy Hovey, CEO and Executive Director, Michigan State Housing Development Authority. "Michigan was the birthplace of the middle class, and attainable homeownership and rental opportunities are key to keeping the American Dream accessible for our neighbors. Working with partners like Housing Kent, we're building and rehabilitating thousands of homes to make sure that dream stays within reach in West Michigan and around our state."

Within the key performance indicator of homeownership affordability in Kent County, racial disparities remain high, with 76% of White households being homeowners, 46% being Hispanic or Latino, and 32% being Black.

"This is the first time that we have had such high visibility of the entire Housing Continuum. We are highlighting what is needed to solve for homelessness in Kent County," said Courtney Myers-Keaton, Director, Coalition to End Homelessness.

Housing Kent plans to add state and national data comparisons, mortgage approval rates, and other data to the dashboard in the future. To learn more, visit https://housingkent.org/kpi-overview/.