For years, housing has become increasingly unaffordable in the Ocean State.
Single-family home prices have jumped “higher and faster than anywhere else in the country” while rent increases “are currently the steepest in New England,” according to a report released last week by HousingWorksRI at Roger Williams University.
In May, the median sales price of a single-family home climbed above the half-million dollar mark for the first time – a roughly 65 percent increase over the last five years.
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More than a third of the state’s households are now considered “cost burdened,” meaning they spend over a third of their income on housing expenses. A September poll from the University of Rhode Island found 93 percent of Rhode Islanders see the cost of housing as a problem, with about a quarter reporting falling behind on rent or mortgage payments in the last three years.
Voters largely supported the housing bond last November: Proposed as Question 3 on the ballot, the measure carried more than 65 percent of the vote.
Earlier this year, Governor Dan McKee laid out a goal to add 15,000 new homes across the state over the next five years, although advocates and researchers have said to meet the state’s affordability gap, at least 24,000 units are needed.
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When asked on Tuesday how many units of housing the bond may create, Goddard said she couldn’t provide “anywhere near” a ballpark figure, but emphasized the slate of funded programs covers a “variety of things,” from affordable housing preservation to homeownership.
“We are making progress,” McKee told the Globe. “More progress needs to be made, but these programs, in this initial batch of applications that are available for the developers, can really make a difference.”
The first wave of the bond’s rollout allocates $81 million.
Included is funding to develop affordable housing in “rural, smaller, and infill communities;” to preserve existing affordable housing; to create housing-related infrastructure; to redevelop foreclosed, vacant, and blighted properties; and “for the development of small-scale permanent supportive housing with wraparound services for households needing support to maintain housing,” officials said.
Applications for some programs opened on Tuesday, while others will become available on Thursday, officials said.
Also included is $6 million to support low- and moderate-income homeowners as well as landlords who pledge to rent to tenants with incomes at or below 80 percent of the area median income. Applications for that program open on Nov. 15.
Goddard said the second phase for the remaining $39 million is anticipated to launch sometime in the next several months. That funding will target homeownership initiatives, public development, and “a pipeline expeditor fund to accelerate project timelines.”
The next wave will also include $5 million for site acquisition. On Tuesday, the Executive Office of Housing posted a request for proposals seeking an administrator for the “site acquisition fund, a new revolving loan program that will help nonprofit developers acquire properties for affordable and supportive housing across Rhode Island.”
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In recent years, the General Assembly has passed dozens of laws to try to spur development.
In a statement on Tuesday, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi called the bond “the critical next step to putting those laws into action, accelerating construction, and delivering real results for Rhode Island families.”
“Across Rhode Island, the lack of available and affordable housing is disrupting people’s lives, holding back our economy, and endangering our state’s future,” Senate President Valarie J. Lawson said in a statement. “To address this crisis, we must continue to embrace innovative, collaborative solutions.”
Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.