Let’s show affordable housing is a human right
Our state is diverse, welcoming and full of opportunities for new families and new residents. We have a bright future ahead of us. An unjust trend, a direct effect of both the pandemic and accelerating climate change, has threatened this future. We risk growing — apart.
In New Mexico and other former “flyover” states, homes are being scooped up within a day or two of going on the market. New Mexicans hoping to become firsttime homebuyers are left with no options and fast-rising prices, forcing them back into the socioeconomic pattern of endless rent payments. They want to invest in New Mexico as their long-term home. They are watching their dream disappear.
Owning a home is a primary wealth creator. It sets an intergenerational foundation of stability. In 2020, prices in the Albuquerque housing market surged more than 20 percent in many areas and are being pushed higher every day. The average price of a home in Santa Fe has now crossed the $500,000 mark. And yes, the investor-buyers will rent some houses back. And the price of rent will rise sharply in turn. For a renter hoping to buy, saving more for the new, higher down payment to attempt a noncash bid seems impossible. In the wake of survival in a divided economy, the dream of a home and a better, stable life fades.
Out-of-state buyers are dropping cash premiums on top of asking prices. They have the privilege to choose a new home, to shift from unsustainable places to new, “undiscovered markets” in New Mexico. Compared to California or the East Coast, the home prices of our state seem like time capsules. These expats and investors will pay two or even three times as much for the same size and quality of home. They can also afford to pay for the negative impacts of their relocation and opportunism on our existing community.
Could all this imported wealth trickle down to the rest of us? Yes, some will see a boost in their business and lives. More money will circulate in select, exclusive parts of the local economy. But the “K-shaped” recovery from COVID-19’s economic turmoil will continue to divide our community into the haves and have nots. Many have grown wealthier, with more disposable income. Many, too, are on the brink of losing everything, of eviction and homelessness. Any positive trickles are washed away by the undertow of displacement. Transient growth for some at the expense of others leads to a boom and bust cycle, crippling the sustainable future of our state as it divides us.
Enter the Community Impact Initiative. The goal is to compensate for the negative impacts of the wave where the market cannot. Under the initiative, each sale that qualifies as a “displacement impact event” will be subject to a one-time impact fee. Higher property taxes can be assessed for a period of years after, which takes a change to state law. Collected funds are designated to provide affordable housing to the displaced and to subsidize local, first-time homebuyers.
COVID-19 has accelerated gentrification. A wave of foreclosures is coming, replenishing the depleted housing inventory with the losses of former homeowners. The existing racial disparity in homeownership will increase.
Yet we can both welcome new arrivals and balance growth. This time holds the opportunity to protect what makes this state our collective home. To declare: We are inclusive, just and equitable. We respect the workers, the families and the people who have made this place possible. We believe affordable housing is a human right. We invest in those who invest in us.