Lack of affordable housing is a modern-day hydra in many American cities — Albuquerque is no exception.
In 2022, the median affordable home price for a renter with a median household income was $163,000. The median home price in Albuquerque that year was $315,000, 93% more than the median affordable home price, according to the City of Albuquerque’s Housing Needs Assessment.
The causes of this crisis range from income not keeping up with rent or property prices to low supply of properties available to people, according to Housing New Mexico and the City of Albuquerque.
The MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates a living wage in Albuquerque at $21.23 an hour —- nearly double the state’s $12.00 minimum wage. A living wage reflects the hourly rate needed to cover basic necessities, one of which is housing, according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator.
Bernalillo County has prioritised seven transitional housing projects and four affordable housing projects for funding, according to documents provided to the Daily Lobo. These sites aim to house 1050 residents in need of short-term housing by 2026, according to Bernalillo County District 3 Commissioner Adriann Barboa. The proposal requests $98.2 million — $87.9 million in capital costs and $10.3 million in operating expenses, according to the obtained documents.
“What we’ve been doing is looking at places where there are state, city and county properties that we already have, or properties that are up for sale and we have vetted, with thoughts of purchasing them,” Barboa said. “That way we can start building and renovating straight away to create transitional housing, due to the urgency of the affordable housing crisis.”
While many efforts are targeted towards families, there is also a recognized need for projects that target individuals and behavioral health. Bernalillo County has identified 486 “familiar faces” that have gone through the county’s facilities multiple times and have diagnosed mental health issues, Barboa said.
“If we covered just those 486 people, by securing permanent housing for them, it would free up so much of our time and resources to address the needs of everyone else,” Barboa said. “A possible solution is the utilization of a ‘behavioral health waiver,’ which would function in a similar way to a disability waiver.”
Behavioral health funds will be brought before the Commission at a later time, Barboa said.
In addition to the County’s housing efforts, state and city-level initiatives are also underway to increase affordable housing.
Housing New Mexico, an organization that provides financing options for low and moderate-income New Mexicans, recently approved a loan of approximately $2.35 million for the Opportunity Housing-Enterprise Program, according to a document provided to the Daily Lobo.
The loan will help fund the renovation of the 137-unit San Roque Apartment complex, which will provide subsidized housing for low-income residents and individuals with disabilities. The total cost of this project is projected to be $45 million.
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Palindrome, a real estate developer that has experience in affordable housing projects, is partnering with the City of Albuquerque to launch Uptown Connect — a project that transforms an underutilized bus transfer station into a multi-use housing complex, according to Bernallilo County.
This project is expected to house 710 residents, according to documents provided by Bernalillo County.
Some proposed solutions to Albuquerque’s housing problems include relaxing zoning regulations that favor single-family homes over multi-family developments, according to PEW Charitable Trusts.
However, unchecked development may also worsen the crisis in some ways. The City of Albuquerque has warned that development of all usable land could increase traffic congestion, overwhelm services for Western Albuquerque’s residents and contribute to rising housing costs in existing neighborhoods.
In Barelas — a historic Albuquerque neighborhood — residents are increasingly being priced out due to rising property taxes or because they’re outbid by corporate buyers, according to Crystal Garcia, interim secretary of the Barelas Neighborhood Association.
The neighborhood has 80 active Airbnb units, followed closely by Martineztown with around 70, according to KRQE. Garcia said this short-term rental saturation also reduces available housing stock for residents.
Albuquerque city ordinances limit short-term rentals in neighborhoods like Old Town, Downtown and Nob Hill — but no such restrictions exist in Barelas or Martineztown.
“If the City wants to do something about housing shortages, they could place restrictions on the number of Airbnbs in an area,” Garcia said.
Shin Thant Hlaing is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo