The 2021 Housing Savannah Action Plan made a number of stark assertions about the housing cost crisis facing Savannah.
Housing prices doubled the pace of income growth over 30 years, and 40% of Savannah households could not afford a place to live during the time of study. The county also faced a housing supply shortage of 10,000 units, a calculation made before the announcement of Hyundai’s Metaplant set to drive rapid population growth in the region.
Savannah is one of a swath of communities in the U.S. facing such a housing crunch, with the country also at a housing deficit in the “millions” of homes, according to Emory University Assistant Professor of finance Rohan Ganduri .
The sweeping nature of the housing crunch has caught the eye of presidential candidates, including Vice President Kamala Harris, who released a housing plan as one of her major policy priorities. The plan takes two broad approaches, Ganduri said: increasing housing supply and making it easier for people to buy homes.