Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s State of the State address Wednesday focused on affordable housing — a pressing issue not only in West Michigan, but around the state.
Kalamazoo County Housing Director Mary Balkema says it’s a crisis county leaders have been trying to tackle for years.
“There’s way more demand than supply,” Balkema told FOX 17.
‘More demand than supply’: Why housing is so expensive in Kalamazoo County
She says, right now, the county is short 7,750 affordable housing units. That, coupled with construction costs and interest rates, add up to the high price tag on housing.
“This is the first time where it is cheaper to rent than to own and, generally throughout the past few decades, that has not been true,” she explained.
On average, smaller homes today cost more than $200,000 — when it used to be around $100,000. Balkema says most people are working, but the wages are not keeping up.
“To be able to afford a one-bedroom in Kalamazoo County, you need to make $15.80 an hour, and we know that a lot of our employers are not paying that,” she added.