The best way to lower home prices? There may be many answers

Baker County needs a few hundred more housing units to meet current demand, so building enough supply to lower home prices could take years.

But there may also be other, more immediate solutions, like changes in zoning and building rules and more government assistance directly to builders, that could lower prices faster, said County Community Development Director LaDonna Combs.

She is also a licensed real estate broker and said those changes are solutions that could have a big effect on housing affordability in Baker County.

For Combs, the issue reflects a widening disconnect between what it costs to build homes and what local residents can afford to pay.

Researchers David Jaffee of the University of North Florida and Katie Renzi of the JAX Rental Housing Project argued earlier this year that housing affordability problems are not always the result of a lack of units.

Citing recent national research, they note that many communities have added housing while still experiencing worsening affordability because incomes have not kept pace with housing costs.

Census data presented earlier this year by the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida found roughly 42% of Baker County renters are considered cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing.

Home assistance programs

Combs said expanding state housing assistance programs could help bridge that gap, too.

“On a state level, expanding the funding of existing programs like SHIP, CDBG and Hometown Heroes in areas like Baker County who only receive minimum funding would be a great start,” she said.

The State Housing Initiatives Partnership, known as SHIP, provides funding to local governments for housing assistance programs. Community Development Block Grants, or CDBG, support community development projects, while Florida’s Hometown Heroes program provides down payment and closing-cost assistance for eligible homebuyers.

Housing advocates say such programs can play a critical role in helping working families achieve homeownership.

The Jaffee-Renzi report similarly concludes that public assistance remains important because private developers typically build housing where profits are greatest, not necessarily where affordability needs are highest. The authors argue that incentives and subsidies can help increase housing production, but they caution that private-sector development alone is unlikely to close affordability gaps for lower-income households.

Researchers and housing advocates have proposed several policy changes to increase housing supply.

The Florida Housing Data Project recommends loosening zoning density restrictions, expanding fast-track permitting processes and encouraging more multifamily development.

Baker County currently limits most residential zoning districts to one or two units per acre, but county commissioners could make changes to increase residential densities if the resulting homes are truly affordable for the average resident.

The report found that while multifamily housing is allowed in some areas, developers have rarely used those provisions during the past two decades.

Combs said another local option worth exploring is the use of accessory dwelling units, commonly known as ADUs.

“On a local level, the exploration of accessory dwelling units could help to provide flexible, affordable living spaces in our community,” she said.

ADUs are smaller secondary housing units built on the same property as an existing home. Supporters say they can increase housing options for young adults, seniors and workers while preserving the rural character of communities.

“Baker County sits on the cusp of its largest housing shortage in two decades,” the Florida Housing Data Project reported. “Reforming restrictive zoning and actively encouraging the use of multi-family permitting are crucial first steps.” Researchers broadly agree that restrictive zoning can limit housing supply, but Jaffee and Renzi caution that zoning reform alone is unlikely to produce large amounts of affordable housing.

Reviewing studies from around the country, they found that loosening development restrictions often produces housing aimed at higher-income households rather than units affordable to working families. They argue that the key question is not simply whether more housing gets built, but who builds it, for whom and at what price.

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This story was published as part of the Northeast Florida News Collaborative.