Workforce Housing Forum Aims to Help Working Families Achieve Homeownership

Washington, August 12, 2010

The National Association of Realtors® and the National Housing Conference partnered to host a regional forum in Austin, Texas, today to discuss workforce housing issues and help create more affordable housing opportunities for public and private sector workers in the south central region.

During the daylong Bring Workers Home forum, Realtors® and local and state housing leaders examined the region’s workforce housing challenges, highlighted regional best practices to address those challenges, and shared and discussed strategies for how workforce housing programs can help more working families find affordable, decent housing near their workplace.

“Realtors® build communities and believe that those who work in a community should be able to afford a place to call home in that same community,” said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz. “Home is where we make memories, build our futures, and feel comfortable and secure; the Bring Workers Home forum aims to help communities address workforce housing issues so that more individuals can enjoy those benefits of homeownership.”

For many low- to moderate-income workers like teachers, hospitality staff, retail clerks, office employees and emergency personnel, having a full-time job doesn’t guarantee their family a decent, affordable place to live. It’s especially difficult for those who live in high-cost areas and whose salaries have not kept pace with local home prices.

Not having affordable housing in close proximity to jobs can lead to longer commutes, sprawl, and traffic congestion; this can degrade the quality of life for all residents. Increasingly, communities have come to recognize that affordable housing impacts the economic and social well-being of the entire community, and that creating more affordable housing options is essential.

Today’s forum attracted more than 100 attendees, including Realtor® associations and their members, business leaders, housing and community development professionals, city council members and other elected and appointed officials, and human resource and employee benefit professionals from Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma and Texas.

The forum began with a morning panel discussion, where experts discussed the region’s growing “cost of place” – the combined costs of housing and transportation – and how workforce housing strategies can help communities address the issue.

Keynote speaker Janet Byrum, human resources manager at Advance Food Co. in Enid, Okla., shared the success of her organization’s employer-assisted housing benefits program, which provides forgivable loans to the company’s first-time home buyers. Since the program began, Advance has helped 113 employees purchase a home.

Two afternoon panels highlighted case studies of successful workforce housing programs and discussed strategies for advancing workforce housing through community partnerships.

Tomorrow, Realtors® will have the opportunity to participate in NAR’s Employer-Assisted Housing class to better understand employer-assisted housing benefits and to learn how to better work with local businesses and organizations to implement employee housing benefits.

The following regional and national partners helped NAR and NHC plan the forum: Austin Board of Realtors®; Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; International Economic Development Council; and the Metropolitan Planning Council.

The Bring Workers Home forum is part of a series of four regional forums hosted by NAR and NHC to address workforce housing issues. Recent events took place in Atlanta and Minneapolis; the series will conclude in Honolulu in October.

Since 1931, the nonprofit National Housing Conference has been dedicated to helping ensure safe, decent and affordable housing for all Americans. To learn more about the National Housing Conference and its research affiliate, the Center for Housing Policy, please go to www.nhc.org.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. News releases are posted in the Web site’s “News Media” section in the NAR Media Center.