The Partnership for Housing Affordability says the Richmond area needs to build 20,000 affordable homes to meet current demand. (Parker Michels-Boyce/Virginia Mercury)
Supply and demand: We often hear that this is the fundamental issue when it comes to affordable housing. If only we built more homes, meeting demand, then prices would fall. But like many simple stories, it’s more fiction than truth.
Recently I was reminded of this when hearing about one of our clients at Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia (HOME of VA). She was struggling to find a home she could afford. We work with first-time buyers to make homeownership possible, and this client hoped we could help unravel a problem that seemed to have no solution.
Our client had worked as a nurse for 31 years at a Richmond-area hospital. Her wages made it challenging to get by while raising four children, and she never could save for a down payment. When disability suddenly forced her into retirement, her diminished income seemed to put homeownership out of reach — especially in the current market.