On the east edge of town, an empty sidewalk flanked by dirt and gravel curls around a bend into the shape of a cul-de-sac. Soon, it will lead to the front doors of three dozen new homes — the first houses in Hays built to sell for $225,000 or less in the past several years. Doug Williams, who heads the local housing and economic development coalition Grow Hays, expects the first homebuyers to move in by the end of this year. And in his view, it’s not a moment too soon. Nor is it enough. “We have what I would deem an extreme undersupply of housing,” Williams said. “And we’ve been fighting that for going on nine to 10 months now.” In the space of one year from late 2019 to late 2020, Grow Hays’ housing report found that the number of homes for sale in the northwest Kansas town plummeted from 101 to 50. And it keeps dropping. “I checked this morning,” he said, “and it was 41.”
Source: KAKE – News
