Habitat director speaks on housing market challenges
Amid a difficult housing market both nationally and locally, Clinch River Habitat for Humanity Director Charlotte Bowers says local organizations are working together.
“It’s like everything’s just piling in at one time on people, and it’s next to impossible,” she said. “We’re getting constant phone calls.”
With this high volume, Bowers said Habitat is working with other organizations like Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties and the federal government-affiliated Oak Ridge Housing Authority, both also involved in homebuilding.
“There’s such a need,” she said. “None of us can do but so much at a time.”
Bowers stressed the importance of her own organization, given the situation.
The organization works on building houses for people within the 60% to 80% median-income range for the area with mortgages that aim to be affordable for them.
“Any of the Habitat houses right now have become extremely important because we sell the houses for the appraised value, but we are able to structure the mortgages so that it’s affordable,” Bowers said.
“And right now, as you know, mortgages have become unaffordable for low- to moderate-income families.”
“It’s the way we structure our mortgages that helps people buy homes that they otherwise couldn’t, especially now with [high] interest rates and prices.”
Bowers referred to the housing market as a “sad situation.”
She said prices for houses have “effectively doubled.”
“It’s impossible for young people to buy,” she said.
“It’s impossible for families to even move and buy, and then they’re selling so fast that you have to pay cash or you have to have a traditional loan,
“If you’re out now looking for a home, you have to pay more than asking price to get it.”
She said the lack of housing stock also is a problem, as landlords are kicking people out of rentals and selling the property.
“We have people calling, crying that they’re getting kicked out of their rental homes,” Bowers said.
An example of Habitat’s collaboration with governmental organizations and donors is its house for the Hall family in Oak Ridge, which The Courier News previously covered.
It’s on property from the city of Oak Ridge Land Bank, which acquired the land to demolish a house it considered blighted.
The Tennessee Department of Housing and Development provided around $130,000.
Other funding, Bowers said, came from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, about $15,000, and donations from Oak Ridge Associated Universities, at $25,000, among other donors.
Bowers said her organization needs land.
Of the houses Clinch River Habitat for Humanity builds, about a quarter of them are in Oak Ridge.
Usually, they are built on Land Bank lots, but Bowers said contractors have started competing for the same plots.
Bowers said Habitat for Humanity uses volunteer labor to build houses as much as possible.
“It’s a difficult job and we have wonderful volunteers, but we need more,” she said.
“It’s now more than ever. There’s just so many people hurting now. Everything is so expensive and people need housing as much as anything.”
For more information on volunteering, go to clinchriverhfh.org or call (865) 483-5433.
