By Claudia Vilato
The topic of affordable housing is all the rage right now nationwide. And while NWA fares much better than large cities and coastal regions- like the rest of the country, our region is struggling with how best to address this growing problem. In fact, according to a newly released housing report by the Walton Family Foundation, Since 2019, “home prices [in our region] have skyrocketed by 70.9%, significantly outpacing increases in other comparable regions like Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C. (58.3%) and Austin, Texas (46.2%).
Considering that the median household income in Fayetteville, AR is 59k- a low number due in part to the high student population, (it’s 66k for Springdale, 83k for Rogers, and 108k for Bentonville), and most financial planners recommend spending no more than 30% of income on housing, house prices either need to come down to keep pace with incomes, or incomes need to rise. Momentum loan officer Doug Robison calculates that with a 10% down payment on a 30-year conventional loan at 6.5% interest, households making 66k-108k are looking at spending 230k-385k on a home purchase.
The trouble is, we do not have enough move-in-ready homes in NWA priced between 230k-385k.
In fact, in 2024, the average sale price for a home in Fayetteville was 365k, in Springdale it was 325k, in Rogers it was 432k, and in Bentonville it had reached 500k by the end of 2024! To buy an average home in Springdale alone, households would need to make at least 90k a year (and have at least 30k for a down payment). And these prices say nothing about condition or functionality: older homes tend to have problems that are not always cheap to fix or replace.
Part of the reason for these high prices is that inventory, while rising, is not high enough to bring costs down dramatically, as existing homeowners remain in their current homes that they bought or refinanced with low interest rates. To help increase housing supply, NWA cities are thinking ahead, particularly when it comes to incentivizing new construction.
Regional housing think tank, Groundwork NWA, has been advocating for legalizing smaller lot sizes, allowing more housing types in more places, and eliminating excessive parking and setback requirements that drive up costs. They think cities can go even further by offering incentives like infrastructure subsidies, pre-approved development patterns, reduced impact fees, and expedited review for projects that align with community housing goals. They say NWA can build homes everyday families can afford to buy if we remove regulatory obstacles.
And Bentonville Planning Director Tyler Overstreet says the city is doing just that. Bentonville has updated the future land use map and created a unified development code to ensure future housing supply can meet demand projections. Plus, they have even recently adopted an early-build permitting ordinance that allows for homes located in Preliminary Plats to go vertical before final platting. “Doing so allows for homes to be delivered to market more quickly than previously,” says Overstreet. And this means lower costs for builders, and hopefully lower costs for buyers.
The city of Rogers is also working towards making the building process more efficient to incentivize development. John McCurdy, Director of Community Development for Rogers says the city has rewritten the rules to support small builders and make affordable housing possible. “Our new zoning code allows for smaller lots, reduced setbacks, and housing variety by right, which means builders don’t have to fight for every project,” he says. The hope is that these smaller homes on smaller lots will not only make more functional sense for today’s buyer, but also make financial sense. Further aligning with Groundwork’s recommendations, Rogers has created pattern zoning tools that McCurdy says streamline approvals and lower design costs. Like in Bentonville, builders can build more quickly, more efficiently, and therefore more cost-effectively.
NWA cities’ efforts to reduce administrative hurdles in the building process address one part of the affordable housing problem. But, some think these moves don’t go far enough. Groundwork NWA notes that builders are struggling to make the numbers work. They say rising land prices, construction costs, financing rates, and regulatory burdens all combine to make it nearly impossible to deliver homes in the 230-385k price range without taking a loss...pushing many developers to focus instead on high-end, high-margin products.
The Walton Family Foundation report echoes Groundwork NWA’s sentiments. “Developers cite a lack of low-interest rate debt…[and given] increasing development costs, including land costs, developers are faced with greater financing gaps than before.” To offset such costs, the Walton Family Foundation has indicated a need for gap funding, particularly by establishing a housing trust fund to provide access to capital at a lower interest rate. However, it is not yet clear which builders would get access to the housing trust fund, what strings might be attached, or even if this capital would go towards building houses for consumer purchase at a price median income earners can afford.
Until more details of the WFF Housing Trust Fund become available, cities might be best off taking stock of what they own and getting creative. Public private partnerships can be a key source of housing people can afford to buy, says Fayetteville planning commissioner Mary McGetrick. “Cities, which often have large land portfolios, can partner with local developers to develop large tracts of land where a certain number of homes are designated as attainable housing via development agreements,” she says.
Perhaps this, combined with more flexible zoning, more streamlined permitting processes, and an available source of low-interest capital, are all necessary pieces to solving the affordable housing puzzle.
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