Blog November 22, 2019

How to prepare for increased affordable housing demand

By Brian Zrimsek

If you’re not in the affordable housing space today, you might be soon.

With rent control legislation gaining traction and rent increases still outpacing buying power, it’s time for all multifamily property owners to recognize the growing significance of affordable housing. Increased demand may soon reshape the real estate industry, based on these facts and figures from 2010 to 2018:

  • The US added nearly 7 million rental units (5.2% growth)(1), and considering that the US population grew from 309 million to 327 million people (5.8% growth)(2), supply did not keep up with demand driven by general population trends. Further, we still have a shortage of 7 million affordable rental homes(3).
  • At the same time, rent has increased by as much as 37%(4), but wages, and therefore buying power, have not(5).
  • There are 44 million renter households and more than 25% of those homes (around 11.2 million) are considered extremely low income. These households have only 7.4 million rental homes available to them, highlighting another 3.6 million home shortfall(3) at the most economically challenging end of the market for renters and developers combined.

Given these statistics, it’s clear to see that in the next few years, the number of renters that need affordable housing will continue to rise. As such, any multifamily property manager that may currently assume affordable housing is out of their wheelhouse may want to consider adding it to their portfolio. With the right technology, expanding into new areas, including the affordable housing space, could be easier than you think.

Can these statistics be leveraged?

There are measures that both multifamily and affordable housing owners could be enacting now in order to prepare for the inevitable shift in the industry. At MRI Software, we’ve developed an affordable housing solution that covers property management and compliance for owners and operators of affordable and mixed portfolios.

With the participation of over 250 affordable and multifamily clients, MRI Software developed MRI Affordable Housing to help the affordable housing industry simplify the day-to-day processes by using technology. This includes a role-based dashboard that will help you prioritize your workday – everything you need to see on one screen.

For Compliance Managers, we leverage the best multi-layered funding capability, and we added a sleek new user interface that further simplifies compliance tracking and tasks. Multifamily property managers are always in need of additional time. Our integrated online portals provide your residents with self-service capabilities from application to payment and service request submissions, eliminating cumbersome administrative work and freeing up your time for more value-adding activities.

At MRI, we’re setting new standards for affordable housing, new standards for allowing clients choices and flexibility, and new standards for nurturing a community of partners. All of this is done to serve our ultimate goal of helping you run a better business.

Learn more about how your organization can benefit from MRI Affordable Housing.

Sources:
(1) Factfinder.census.gov – Cumulative Estimates of Housing Unit Change for the United States, and State Rankings: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2018 – United States
(2) Factfinder.census.gov – Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2018
(3) National Low Income Housing Coalition – The Gap, A Shortage of Affordable Homes, March 2019
(4) Rental housing journal.com – Slowdown in Month-Over-Month Rent Increases Seen Across the U.S., August 2019
(5) Seekingalpha.com – June 2018 Median Household Income

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