Last year, 800 new housing units were built in Wichita, a five-year high. Still, even with the supply going up, rent went up by 10%. A real estate expert at Wichita State University said the new apartments aren’t helping the market as much as you’d think because we’ve been in a deficit of new builds since the 2008 financial crisis. The need for housing goes beyond numbers in a report. According to local nonprofits, it’s directly impacting their operations. When you operate an emergency domestic violence shelter, you have to be able to admit people fast. “We don’t have a waiting list because if someone is in life-threatening danger, we want to make sure they have a place to stay,” said Amanda Meyers, Wichita Family Crisis Center executive director. “But what that looks like is if we don’t have the space, we’re calling community partners, we’re calling nearby communities, we’re looking at hotels, even.” The sooner emergency shelter tenants can move out to create room for others, the better. However, recently, with the lack of safe, affordable housing for who are often women with small children, it’s been more difficult. “That’s what keeps them here,” said Meyers. “They’re ready. They have a job, you know, they have childcare, they got their training, and it’s the housing that’s keeping them.” Mennonite Housing received three times as many phone calls from people looking for housing this summer compared to earlier this year. About 10% of people seeking help at Mennonite housing are coming from the city-owned affordable units sold off earlier this year. “We have been inundated with phone calls, there’s been changes with the city’s public housing seniors that are unable to afford the rental rates,” said Penny Heron, Mennonite Housing property manager director. With landlords’ insurance costs and property taxes going up, one expert said, new challenges are ongoing. “The apartment owners, when they get those increases in their property tax and insurance rates, that has to translate into higher rents that they charge,” said Stan Longhofer, Director of the WSU Center for Real Estate. Longhofer said the biggest impacts from that will show themselves in the next year or two.
Source: KSN-TV
