To stabilize the Chaffee County workforce and keep up with future housing demands, 1105 new homes are needed over the next five years, according to the 2022 Housing Needs Assessment (HNA), recently adopted by the Chaffee Housing Authority.

Of the 1105 housing units required, 435 units are needed to catch up with latent demand, and 670 units are needed through 2027 to address job growth and retirements.

The 2022 HNA offers new data on the state of Chaffee County’s rental and ownership home markets, projected job growth, and housing production goals for each jurisdiction in Chaffee County. The production goals offer targets for new construction price points, home size, and whether the need should address ownership or renter demand.

The average home price in Chaffee County increased 41% between 2020 and 2022; average rents have increased about 43% since 2016. Presently, home ownership is out of reach for 91% of county households. During the study period (June – July 2022), the least expensive home was listed for $509,000, which requires a household income of about $157,000 (or 238% of the Area Median Income) to afford. Almost one in four (23%) of the homes in Chaffee County are unoccupied, meaning they are used for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use; in other words, they are not occupied by full time residents.

Nearly half of Chaffee County renters are cost burdened, meaning they spend over 30% of their household income on housing expenses. Renters earning under $40,000 have few to no publicly listed rental options, in an environment where 79% of landlords surveyed filling their vacancies by word of mouth. Moreover, current housing production is focused almost exclusively on the owner market with 78% of the total homes being developed for purchase, while our local economy and workforce have a critical need for rentals. According to the HNA, nearly 60% of housing being constructed should be for the rental market.

The study found that nearly one-third (32%) of total households in Chaffee County consist of a single person living alone. Future building in Chaffee County should produce more homes with

a smaller footprint as a result. While the average household size in Chaffee County is 2.2 people, 71% of homes sold between 2020-2022 are three and four bedrooms.

The HNA clearly states that the private market will continue to build products that are affordable to buyers earning 160% of the Area Median Income or higher ($92,160 for a single person). Financial assistance and subsidies are needed to cover the gap between what it costs to build and what locals can afford.

The Chaffee Housing Authority’s Strategic Plan addresses this need for financial assistance by proposing to allocate roughly 70% of future revenues to public private partnerships that construct workforce and senior housing that is accessible for people earning between $46,080 and $92,160; lower incomes will be subsidized through state and federal resources.

The Chaffee Housing Authority’s Strategic Plan and the 2022 Housing Needs Assessment, can be found at https://www.chaffeehousingauthority.org/our-plan

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Dan R

Danny “Dan R” Ridenour has been in radio and television broadcasting for over 40 years, starting as a senior in high school in Rogers, Arkansas. His radio career has had stops in Nashville, Memphis, Oklahoma, and eventually, Colorado. Dan enjoys being involved in the community, having been a member of the Upper Arkansas Service Club and is currently on the board of directors for the Salida Community Center and is a member of the Chaffee County Fair Committee. He and his wife Carrie spend their days doing everything the mountains have to offer: hiking, camping, fishing and skiing. They've raised 3 children and have 2 grandchildren.

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