COLUMBUS, Ind. — Columbus-area Realtors listened to Indiana senior Sen. Todd Young’s plans to help improve tight housing opportunities Tuesday, but they also told him about some of the conditions in the local real estate market that are vexing them and homebuyers.
Young, a Republican from Bargersville, visited a roundtable discussion hosted by the Columbus-based Crossroads Association of Realtors and heard an array of concerns. Among them, inventory of homes for sale is about 75% less than it was in 2014. Home prices remain near historic highs even as interest rates have increased. Entry-level homes are in especially short supply.
Kerri Bennett with Weichert Realtors said of homeowners who bought when interest rates were in the 2% and 3% ranges, “Those people are not moving for anything. … I actually have a family that has a super offer on their home,” but they would be unable to afford to finance another home due to inflation and higher interest rates.
“We’d love for it all to come roaring back immediately. I don’t think many people are predicting that,” Young said. “… As you look at sort of growing the next generation of homebuyers, how does that occur? … I would hope that we would have more stock out there.”
Young is advocating three bills in Washington he believes could help meet that goal.
Chief among them is the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act (NHIA). This bill co-authored by Young aims to revitalize distressed neighborhoods by providing tax credits that states could use in targeted areas to build or renovate homes. Recipients would have to meet low- to moderate-income eligibility criteria.
Young’s office said the bill, if passed, could revitalize nearly 9,600 homes and create $2.4 billion in development revenue in Indiana in the next 10 years.
“We especially want to be supportive of those owner-occupied structures, where someone just doesn’t have the money to fix their house up, and they’re of modest means … we’re gonna help you out. We’re going to give you half the money for it, you’ve got a lot of skin in the game, the other half, and as long as it’s owner-occupied, the money is released, and this will also bring in a lot of private capital, people just looking to take entire blocks and improve them” in designated areas, Young said.
For the complete story and more photos, see Wednesday’s Republic.
