On an annual (year-on-year) basis, home prices in Philadelphia have risen an average of 9.0% from the previous year. In today's market, for a buyer with an AMI of 120%, a new home in Philadelphia could be very attractive compared to prices and competition in some suburbs. As Philadelphia homebuyers, current homeowners, investors and renters evaluate their home goals, these are the questions that should prompt reflection on what will benefit the common good of the city's neighborhoods. Housing for people with low and extreme incomes are areas that the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative simply cannot afford to underserve, given the overwhelming need for this type of housing in Philadelphia.
A vacant lot in South Kensington is one of thousands owned by the Philadelphia Land Bank and the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority. In doing so, BIA committed to Philadelphia's affordable housing goals by supporting a source of income that will support Neighborhood Preservation Initiative bonds. Those aspiring to buy a home for the first time in the city, neighbors who will stay and shape Philadelphia's future, are now faced with a housing crisis that leaves them with difficult decisions about how and where to invest their resources. Below is a summary of the loan breakdown among a sample of 638 Philly First Home clients who were counseled by the Philadelphia Affordable Housing Centers.
The Philadelphia Housing Action Plan estimates that the city should create between 30,000 and 40,000 new units of affordable housing by 2030 to address the diverse needs of the population. Plans to rebuild the sprawling site of the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in southwest Philadelphia may herald future housing difficulties, a property that will be reinvented as a multimodal logistics center called The Bellwether District for the next two decades. A recent report by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition highlights how racial disparities in mortgage lending have persisted during the COVID-19 pandemic, making it difficult for people of color to access conventional loans in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods, where they can and can interest buy houses. For outsiders in larger and fastest-growing cities, the cost of housing in Philadelphia seems affordable and attractive by comparison.
The Freddie Mac Home Price Index (FMHPI) measures the change in house prices in the U.S. housing markets. Somewhere between the housing shortage and the unrestrained abundance of housing, there is a future where Philadelphia could have spacious, quality housing for residents of all income levels to live in places where they can be proud to call their neighborhoods. As chair of the BIA Affordable Housing Committee, Rushdy has spent the past two years trying to negotiate benefits for the future of Philadelphia's development.
The City Council remains undecided whether the agreement on private sector resources will generate affordable housing of the kind that is meant when the word crisis is used to describe Philadelphia's needs.