John Bitely and Bob Filka of HBA of Michigan explain how new housing projects are helping Michigan’s housing shortage

Rockford-based Sable Homes President John Bitely and Home Builders Association of Michigan CEO Bob Filka recently spoke with media about how new housing projects can help the housing shortage in local communities throughout the state.

“It’s no secret, and we’ve been talking about it for a long time – there’s a huge demand for housing, especially anything in that middle price,” Bitely said in an interview with FOX 17.

Some of the most notable changes year-over-year are taking place in Grand Rapids and the Battle Creek area, which together saw 122 more homes built through the first half of this year compared to the same time period last year. But even with more homes on the market, there are still challenges that make ownership harder – especially for first time buyers – like interest rates.

“It’s not uncommon to see just under 7% and I think there might be some 6.85% loans going around,” said Bitely. “That’s better than it was at 7.5%, but it’s still nowhere near what the old 3% and 3.25% was – those days are probably gone. This is still a reasonable rate, but it’s just a matter of fitting people’s budget.”

Bitely told FOX 17 that the more homes that developers are able to build, the pressure on demand will lessen and help level the cost of homes and inflation.

In an interview with WZZM 13, Filka explained the demand for affordable and fair housing is on the rise in Michigan and many believe the housing market is currently in a recession.

“People are finding that they can’t find what they want on the existing housing market and are being pushed into having to build new,” Filka told WZZM 13.

As housing demands remain steady across the state, Filka believes those looking to move to a home in West Michigan may be met with obstacles.

“Many communities throughout the Grand Rapids, West Michigan area, understand that housing has changed, that they need to look at housing as an investment to attract,” he said. “I think they now understand, and have been working to say, well, what do we need to do to develop more housing and to attract more housing investment that the typical worker or typical Michigander family can afford?”

Filka said Michigan is currently in a housing recession and depression. He believes if new code changes from the regulatory agency at the state level go into effect next year, it would dramatically increase the cost of housing.

“In Michigan, for every $1,000 increase in the cost of new housing, you price out about 4,500 households from being able to afford that house,” said Filka.

As far as what you can do to ensure affordable housing doesn’t decrease in your neighborhood, Filka said it’s important to get in touch with your state leaders and officials.

“Certainly, encourage your listeners to be contacting their elected leaders in Lansing and saying, ‘Hey, now is not the time to artificially and unnecessarily increase the cost of housing by imposing some very costly code changes,’” he said.