It鈥檚 no surprise that 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 rental market is competitive. But just how competitive is it?
黑料吃瓜网 has the lowest rental vacancy rate of any state in the country, according to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Just 2.1% of 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 rental housing was empty during the second quarter of the year. In other words, only about 2% of rental units are vacant and available for renters looking for a new unit.
The national average is 5.6%.
鈥淚t's telling us that there's a shortage of units available for people to freely move around and make choices that are best for their lives,鈥� said Nandini Natarajan, CEO of the 黑料吃瓜网 Housing Finance Authority. The agency is one of the biggest lenders for affordable housing development in the state.
Low vacancy rates open the doors to a competitive rental market where renters are often forced to pay more than they can afford. A recent study found that workers need to earn double the minimum wage to afford an apartment in the state.
Too much housing demand, not enough supply
What鈥檚 driving the vacancy rate to such low levels? The housing shortage.
鈥淭he vacancy rate is just a symptom of the problem,鈥� Natarajan said. 鈥淭he problem is really we don鈥檛 have enough supply.鈥�
It doesn鈥檛 surprise her.
鈥淲e know that the supply of affordable rental housing, and for that matter affordable homeownership, has never really recovered from the financial crisis over 10 years ago,鈥� she said.
While 黑料吃瓜网 used to issue more than 10,000 housing building permits a year before the 2008 financial crash, in recent years it鈥檚 issued around 4,000 a year, according to data from the state Department of Economic and Community Development.
Natarajan said there are plenty of obstacles to building housing. Recently, those issues include the high cost of land and construction supplies and not enough construction employees 鈥� all of which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. In addition, 黑料吃瓜网 zoning laws make it difficult to build different kinds of housing.
Natarajan said low vacancy rates are not unique to 黑料吃瓜网.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just the flavor is different in 黑料吃瓜网 because it鈥檚 based on how the 黑料吃瓜网 economy functions and where people want to live,鈥� Natarajan said. 鈥満诹铣怨贤� has a unique geography in the sense that our big cities tend to have the most population, and there are a lot of towns where there's a lot of single-family homes.鈥�
Out of the 75 largest metropolitan areas in the country, three 黑料吃瓜网 metro areas rank in the top 15 in terms of the lowest vacancy rates: New Haven-Milford (1.3 %), Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk (1.4%) and Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford (2.9%).
What鈥檚 being done to add housing?
The 黑料吃瓜网 Housing Finance Authority is working to increase the building stock, Natarajan said.
It can often take months to years for housing to be built, she adds. But new construction is key to alleviating the shortage.
鈥淲e invite developers every year to come and give us their pitch about what they think they can build and what town and what resources they need,鈥� she said. This year they鈥檝e had 50 applications for help with development. And CHFA has over 1,000 new units in the pipeline.
In addition, state officials are trying to make homeownership accessible. While housing costs continue to remain high, the state wants to help with down payment and closing costs.
, launched this year, gives potential income-eligible homeowners forgivable loans. The program has over 300 interested homebuyers 鈥� more than half of the program's initial goal.
鈥淚t's really meant to expand access to homeownership in a significant way,鈥� Natarajan said. 鈥淎nd it's the first investment the state has made in well over a generation to provide very deep down payment assistance dollars for an individual or a family hoping to become a first-time home buyer. As we continue to find ways to expand the supply, there's still demand, and we have to try to meet that demand with tools.鈥�
