Ohio REALTORS and other industry groups spotlight the state's housing needs
(Left photo): Andrew Huffman, Ohio REALTORS Director of Government Affairs, (third from left) provides insight on activities at the Ohio Statehouse during a panel discussion at the Ohio Chamber of Commerce's Housing Summit event on Feb. 21. Joining Huffman on the panel, from left, Rick Carfagna, Senior Vice President of the Ohio Chamber, Vince Squillace, Executive Vice President of the Ohio Home Builders Association, and Brian Hicks, Principal of Ice Miller. (Right photo) Scott Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Ohio REALTORS (third from left) discusses the challenges and opportunities facing the housing marketplace during a presentation in the Ohio Statehouse. Joining Williams on the panel, from left, Bhavin "B" Patel, with the Ohio Apartment Association, Charles Ruma, with Ohio Home Builders Association, and Steve Stivers, Chief Executive Officer of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
Ohio REALTORS played a central role in spotlighting the importance of a strong housing marketplace during a day-long series of programs spotlighting the state's housing needs. The Feb. 21 events featured the state's leading housing Associations and attracted an array of influencers and policymakers.
“While I’m reluctant to say we’re in a housing crisis – we are rapidly falling further behind in meeting our needs as a state,” Scott Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Ohio REALTORS, told members of the Ohio General Assembly during a session the Association cosponsored with the Ohio Apartment Association and Ohio Home Builders Association in the Statehouse Atrium.
“Dramatically increasing the pace of new construction and expanding the supply of all types of housing is key to substantially reducing the size of the current demand-supply issue and thereby stabilize housing costs,” Williams said. “The lack of housing production contributed to an escalation of the cost of renting and rapid home price increases – which are often the largest expense for households – exacerbating the growing affordability crisis happening here and across the country.”
The Atrium event for Ohio legislators capped the day-long focus on housing, which began with a “Housing Summit” hosted by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber program attracted federal, state and local lawmakers, regulators, and community and business leaders. Andrew Huffman, Ohio REALTORS Director of Government Affairs, serving on a panel discussing the Ohio General Assembly, noted that the proposed state budget includes a number of initiatives intended to boost the housing marketplace:
- Creation of a state low-income housing tax credit, which would provide $100 million each year in tax credits for low-income housing for the next four years;
- $50 million in tax credits to be awarded annually over the next four years for single-family housing development;
- Development of a home-buyers savings account program that would allow Ohioans to make tax-deductible contributions to a savings account to be used for the purchase of a home.
“Ohio is growing – we’re seeing economic development occurring unlike any other time, and housing is critical to our long-term success,” Williams said. “When housing becomes unaffordable the economy stalls and people leave for more affordable places. We want Ohio to be the place where those seeking greener pastures come and put down roots.”
