ICYMI: Under Sununu’s Watch, New Hampshire’s Housing Crisis Is Only Getting Worse

In case you missed it, New Hampshire Bulletin reported on the state’s continued housing crisis and the devastating toll it's taken on local businesses. Under Governor Sununu’s watch, New Hampshire’s housing crisis has gone from bad to worse.

After taking credit for American Rescue Plan funds, money that Sununu vehemently opposed, Sununu has still failed to alleviate our housing crisis and Granite State businesses are paying the price.

Read more here.

Key Excerpts:

• For years, New Hampshire has had an unsavory distinction: the state with one of the lowest rates of rental availability around.

• The national rental vacancy rate is 5.8 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The average in the Northeast is 4.9 percent. The target number recommended by housing economists as a sign of a healthy market is 5 percent.

• New Hampshire’s vacancy rate is 0.5 percent.

• Rents for all New Hampshire units have increased 32 percent since 2017.

• According to Ben Frost, deputy executive director at New Hampshire Housing, that difficult buying market has caused the rental market to swell, too. A double whammy of high home prices and climbing mortgage rates have kept the prospect of owning a new home out of reach for people on the lower end of the income spectrum.

• The housing crunch is forcing families into difficult choices and taking an economic toll on New Hampshire businesses, Taylor said. The solution, he added, lies in helping residents connect the dots.

• “There’s such a disconnect between what the people want and what our businesses need and where our policies allow things to move forward right now,” Taylor said. “And until that gets back in sync … we’re not going to be able to solve this.”