Nancy Rojas, senior program manager for Harris County Housing and Community Development,” speaks at the Houston Community Media’s “Mapping the Housing Crisis in Houston” media briefing on Oct. 28 (Photo Credit: Latin Touch Media).
When people think about the housing crisis, many often immediately think about the homeless epidemic, as in people sleeping on the streets.
But in the current economy, the housing crisis has, unfortunately, extended to potential homebuyers and renters too as the cost to find a suitable home continues to skyrocket.
On Oct. 28, the Houston Community Media hosted a briefing entitled, “Mapping the Housing Crisis in Houston” to address the issue with local media company executives and journalists.
Caroline Cheong, associate director for the Center for Housing & Neighborhoods at the Kinder Institute for Urban Research said, “The affordability gap for homeowners increased to about $130,000 in Houston and $176,000 in Harris County.”
Cheong said the cost of renting has become a huge burden for those living in the Greater Houston area too.
Rent has increased nine percent over the past year, which has outpaced wage growth.
In 2023, 15,000 more renter households were cost burdened.
Houston finds itself in a perplexing situation.
The city has more homeowners.
However, rent has become too expensive for those who do not own their own homes.
Nevertheless, homeowners still find themselves spending much more than in recent years because home prices have doubled, and land values have tripled in the past half decade.
Cheong added that many Houston neighborhoods have experienced a loss of residents, with 63 of 143 neighborhoods losing population since 2018.
In fact, some inner-city Houston neighborhoods have lost 10 percent of their population.
She said that Harris County, Texas and the Houston outskirts have seen growth.
Another issue facing homeowners and renters, alike, is the impact of climate change on affordability.
When many think of climate change, they think of hotter weather and beach erosion, not necessarily how global warming impacts their wallet or budget.
But as climate change continues to impact the world, it leads to higher utility prices and more expensive insurance coverage.
At the Oct. 28 media briefing, Cheong said, 84 percent of the people in “H-Town” believe climate change will have a negative impact on their health and well-being.
She added that 81 percent of Greater Houston residents believe that climate change will adversely impact their financial predicament.
Additionally, 86 percent of Houstonians believe that climate change will impact the economic prosperity of the “Bayou City.”
Research from the Kinder Institute shows that two-thirds of Houston residents said that they have had difficulty paying some of their bills in the past 12 months.
Those residents cited issues like utility bills (81 percent), weather disasters (76 percent) and insurance costs (51 percent) as the reasons for their economic hardships.
To make the insurance issue even more dire, Kinder Institute research shows that one in five family homes in Houston are in a flood-risk area.
She said that Houston must decide whether they will continue building in flood risk areas.
One of the problems that Houston is facing when it comes to flooding issues is the fact that the flood maps were drawn by FEMA and have not been updated in years.
“Floods don’t respect flood maps,” Cheong added.
Cheong said that higher poverty neighborhoods endure hotter temperatures because of the amount of concrete and lack of green space.
She said, “Vulnerable people live in vulnerable places.”
The five hottest Houston neighborhoods are Gulfton, Eastwood, Midtown, East Downtown and Westwood.
Less affluent areas also have more unsheltered bus stops.
Although many people find themselves facing obstacles when trying to find housing, organizations like the Harris County Housing and Community Development (HCHCD) exist to help educate people and find financial help when they attempt to purchase a home.
Nancy Rojas, who serves senior program manager for HCHCD, said, “Our department mainly focuses on creating, preserving, and assisting in the homeownership reservation for vulnerable families in Harris County…
“We have invested $124 million to assist a minimum of 1,417 households across preservation, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of single-family homes…
“We are making data-driven investments in developable areas outside of hazard areas…
“We have two communities coming up… 54 townhomes in the $260,000 range with a sales price reduction of up to 45 percent…
“We also partner with Lone Star Legal Aid to assist homeowners with wills, probate, and title issues so they can stay in their homes.”
Carlie Brown, CEO of Healthcare for the Homeless—Houston said that homelessness does not come about just for one reason.
It is often a combination of things that leads to someone becoming unhoused.
Health is one of the main culprits of homelessness.
Brown said, “Houston is the most uninsured city in the United States — more than one-third of Houstonians don’t have any form of health insurance…
“There is a misconception that only mental illness or substance use causes homelessness — health instability can cause housing instability, and housing instability can cause health instability…
“Hospitals are discharging people with nowhere to go — we routinely see people released in hospital gowns with monitors still attached, directly onto the street.”
Brown added that most Houstonians do not even have $400 at their disposal for emergencies.
As a result, organizations like Healthcare for the Homeless—Houston are there for those who cannot afford the medical emergencies that often results in them becoming unhoused.
Another organization aiding the most vulnerable is Coalition for the Homeless Houston.
The organization’s Vice President Catherine B. Villarreal said, “We have a coordinated homeless response system in Houston — it’s called The Way Home — a public-private partnership working to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring through housing with services…
“Since 2012, partners of The Way Home have housed more than 35,000 people experiencing homelessness — every one of those individuals got an apartment with a rental subsidy and a case manager.”
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