There’s no lack of housing in Dubois County, at least that’s what Dubois Strong executive director Ed Cole says.
“We truly don’t have a housing shortage,” Ed Cole said at the March 30 Dubois County Council meeting. “We have a shortage of housing that people would want to rent or purchase. So it’s not the right housing mix.”
Cole’s housing theory comes courtesy of a housing study that’s being conducted by Grow Dubois County, an arm of Dubois Strong, and Development Concepts of Indianapolis. Cole, who declined to talk more on the subject until the study is completed, said during last week’s county council meeting that the housing study was administered by sending surveys out to the top 14 or 15 employers in the county. Those companies gave the surveys to their employees and Cole said that they got 1,100 surveys back.
“We had great cooperation from everyone in the community,” Cole said. “What (the surveys) came down to is what those folks anticipated for housing now and housing later. That’s still being extrapolated.”
Cole said that the housing study was initially supposed to be finished by mid-April, but now it won’t be done until the first week of May at the earliest. Before conducting the survey, Cole thought there was a housing shortage in the county and that the solution would be to build more housing.
“We had this idea, kind of naively, that we had a lack of housing,” Cole said. “So we thought if we got developers to build the right things then everybody would ride off into the sunset with a smile on their face. What we’re finding out is, it is a lot more difficult than that.”
Annette Wigand, a managing broker with ERA First Advantage Reality in Jasper, said that she thinks that there isn’t a lack of housing in Dubois County, but rather a lack of “affordable housing” in the area, especially in the $125,000 to $160,000 price range. Wigand, who’s been in the realty business for 20 years, said houses in that price range usually attract younger buyers such as newlyweds and those looking to start a family, or senior residents, who are looking to downsize. While it can be difficult to find affordable housing in the county, Wigand noted that it’s even more difficult to find affordable housing that doesn’t require some fixing up.
“Buyers are being selective in their purchases,” Wigand said. “They are looking for homes that don’t need upgrades.”
Wigand said that there are currently 156 homes on the market in Dubois County, with 50 of those pending sale. Those numbers are a little lower than usual. Wigand said that is a change from the last two to three years. She has also recently seen multiple offers on one house, which Wigand called a “rare” occurrence in previous years.
“This is a good thing,” Wigand said. “It’s better when you have a balanced market between the buyers and sellers.”
Cole said that he won’t know what steps to take to help housing in Dubois County until all of the study data is collected and properly analyzed. One possibility is that Dubois County’s population growth problems are behind the housing dilemma. Dubois County has 4,500 more people commute into the county than commute out of it, and it only grew by 0.1 percent from 2013 to 2014, according to census data. A potential outcome that Cole listed at the county council meeting is that people might want more housing further from the city so that they can have more room.
Regardless of the findings, Cole said seeking a solution will be the hardest part of the study. He wants an answer that is “doable.”
“It really always comes down to the money and the will,” Cole said. “Putting money and will together sometimes can be tricky.”
© 2010 - 2024 Jasper Herald Company. All Rights Reserved.