30 December 2024
The Pennsylvania housing crisis is an urgent issue that many PA residents are concerned about, and Governor Josh Shapiro is aiming to tackle this with his new housing plan. The plan focuses on collecting data and increasing housing supply over the next five years. The big question is, is this plan timely enough, or is this issue going to continue to get worse even while Shapiro tries to resolve it?
In September, Josh Shapiro signed Executive Order 2024-03 into effect, PA’s first housing action plan that focuses on the lack of housing, prices of housing, and homelessness within PA [1]. In June, the median home sales price increased to $312,000, a 6% increase from the previous year’s rate [2]. The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors credits a shortage of housing to be the main reason for this spike, something that Shapiro’s new bill aims to fix.
Governor Shapiro stated that the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) will be tasked with carrying out this plan, something that he looks forward to, as he believes they will achieve the goals that this bill intends to meet. One of the main ways Shapiro and DCED will attempt to address the rising prices of housing is by doubling the funding cap for the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement (PHARE), which will expand affordable housing by pledging more money into PHARE, which requires that grantees use a percentage of their funds to support households who draw in below 50% of the median area income [3]. This will provide more housing for lower-income households, as well as maintain housing through the required allocation of funding, 50% of the grant, which grantees must report on annually [4]. This is extremely important, especially given the time period that this is taking place, as a main talking point from presidential elect Donald Trump is the failing economy under the Biden-Harris administration and cost of living in the United States. What isn’t being talked about is the legislation that Democrats, like Shapiro, have been passing to attempt to regulate the cost of living in major swing states like PA. This is a bill that has received very little attention, but is so important to the political views of Americans, and something they should be made aware of.
With housing prices rising, many people in Pennsylvania have been seeing evictions due to their inability to make rent or pay for utilities in their homes. The eviction rate in Pennsylvania significantly decreased during the pandemic in 2020 due to eviction moratoria enacted to assist renters who were unable to work and thus unable to make rent. When these relief efforts expired in late 2020, eviction rates began to increase, and in 2022, they returned to the pre-pandemic rates [5]. Shapiro wants to aid these families, and order 2024-03 will invest in counseling for those who are being evicted for the first time. A major question that many people in PA have is, why did it take two years of high eviction rates for action to take place? The eviction rates have only been on the rise since the end of this moratoria, and renters have been struggling for years now. Will this bill have the ability to turn this around, or did the two-year wait time before any action make for an irreversible situation?
Shapiro is also aiming to tackle the issues of homelessness within PA. In 2023, over 12,000 people were reported homeless within the state, a number far too large [6]. Given this high number, there are not enough shelters and support to aid all of these people, so with this new executive order, Shapiro and his team will aim to increase the Homelessness Assistance Program, which will work to help the most vulnerable PA residents. If they are successful in doing this, not only will homelessness be addressed in PA, but it will also create more potential voters and give the homeless population more of a voice that they deserve to have. The main issue with this is the reliance on affordable housing when aiding the homeless population. Homelessness relief is a major part of this bill; however, for this to flourish, there needs to be results seen in the housing industry, another part of this bill. If the housing crisis sees progression due to this bill, we can hope to see homelessness relief as well, but if this crisis doesn’t change, it may be a long shot to assume that homelessness will see progress.
Lastly, Shapiro has been focusing on more people owning homes in PA rather than renting. The number of renters in PA has increased by 200,000 since 2010, and Shapiro aims to return the number to around 1.5 million, the value in 2010 [7]. If people are able to begin to buy homes instead of renting, they will be able to secure a greater deal of housing security. It will enable them to settle down for years to come, which will, in turn, build more communities in PA and more people who are proud to be PA homeowners. This is one of the main goals of the bill, but regulation of the pricing of houses, as well as an increase in housing overall, must come in order to see results like this.
Governor Shapiro has acknowledged the fact that PA has been losing its draw as a state that people want to live in due to the increase in housing prices. He will be working with multiple organizations, including DCED, PHARE, as well as the Department of Human Services (DHS), to hear recommendations for new implementations when it comes to housing and a 5-10 year plan on how to bring back the draw that PA has been losing when it comes to housing. This new housing plan has the chance to affect millions of people throughout PA and allow them to become more secure in their housing and gain a sense of community throughout the state. If this bill achieves what Shapiro believes it will, and in a timely manner, it will absolutely begin to mediate the housing crisis in Pennsylvania, however, the urgency of this grows every day, and the five-year monitoring period may be too long, as the economic needs to fund this plan will continue to rise as that period goes on.
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Works Cited
[1] Marketing998. “Governor Shapiro Signs Executive Order Creating Pennsylvania’s First Housing Action Plan to Increase Affordable Housing, Address Homelessness, and Make Commonwealth More Competitive.” PA Department of Community & Economic Development, 12 Sept. 2024, dced.pa.gov/newsroom/governor-shapiro-signs-executive-order-creating-pennsylvanias-first-housing-action-plan-to-increase-affordable-housing-address-homelessness-and-make-commonwealth-more-competitive/.
[2] Lublin, William. “Pennsylvania Sees New Record High Median Home Sales Price.” Pennsylvania Association of Realtors®, 19 July 2024, www.parealtors.org/blog/pennsylvania-sees-new-record-high-median-home-sales-price/.
[3] (PHFA), Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. “Phare Program.” PA Housing Affordability Fund – PHARE Program | Housing Legislation, www.phfa.org/legislation/act105.aspx. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
[4] 2024 Pennsylvania Housing Affordability And …, www.phfa.org/forms/phare_program_phare_fund/2024_phare_plan_final.pdf Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
[5] “Interactive Web Report: After the Pause: The Rise of Eviction Filings Post-Pandemic.” Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, 8 Feb. 2024, housingalliancepa.org/after-the-pause-the-rise-of-eviction-filings-post-pandemic/#:~:text=However%2C%20since%20the%20end%20of,the%20pre%2Dpandemic%20filing%20level.
[6] “Homelessness in Pa.” PA Department of Community & Economic Development, 23 June 2022, dced.pa.gov/housing-and-development/community-services/homelessness-in-pa/.
[7] Marketing998. “Governor Shapiro Signs Executive Order Creating Pennsylvania’s First Housing Action Plan to Increase Affordable Housing, Address Homelessness, and Make Commonwealth More Competitive.” PA Department of Community & Economic Development, 12 Sept. 2024, dced.pa.gov/newsroom/governor-shapiro-signs-executive-order-creating-pennsylvanias-first-housing-action-plan-to-increase-affordable-housing-address-homelessness-and-make-commonwealth-more-competitive/.
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