The Whitehaven Hills community recently unveiled 10 affordable homes that will diversify options for first-time homebuyers and Memphis’ affordable housing market.
Last week, United Housing Inc., Convergence Memphis, and the city of Memphis announced nine four-bedroom, two-bathroom homes and one three-bedroom, two-bathroom unit. The properties are valued at $200,000.
“These homes represent a new type of progress we’re especially excited about,” Amy Schaftlein, executive director of United Housing, said. “The 10 homes on Zodiac Road are earmarked for local homebuyers, use energy-efficiency best practices, and fit a specific need in our real estate landscape.”
Schaftlein said many first-time homebuyers qualify for home ownership but have been unable to find options in the city. She said higher interest rates and home-sale price increases have contributed to the existing trepidation aspiring homeowners experience.
“When we think about housing affordability, our minds first go to the cost of rent and essential housing needs,” Schaftlein said. “That’s a critically important part of the equation, but we also need to address the lack of options for people who could have purchased homes in previous markets but have been squeezed out due to current circumstances.”
Lack of affordable housing options leave residents in rental situations, Schaftlein said. While they may have the income to purchase, many continue to rent which stops turnover in the rental market, where these people would have moved out and into starter homes.
Unlike other counties who’ve built starter homes for people to move out of their rentals into, Schaftlein said Shelby County lacks in the starter home inventory. This has also caused the county to lose population.
“We’re not building starter homes in Shelby County like we used to,” Schaftlein said. “They’re building them more often in DeSoto County and Tipton and Fayette; whereas, Shelby County hasn’t seen as much of that.”
United Housing emphasized that building starter homes not only helps the families that will live in them, but the neighborhood and housing market as a whole. Schaftlein said Whitehaven Hills hasn’t seen development like this in years.
While many homes that have faced blight and other issues are being renovated, Schaftlein said construction of new homes that are priced reasonably are important as well. She added that the current stock of starter homes typically consists of smaller houses that are “aging and require extensive renovation.”
“An ideal housing market is rich with properties of varied sizes, types, values, and ages,” Schaftlein said.
As a nonprofit, United Housing said they were able to work with the city and state to provide funding for the appraisal gap, which will create sales prices that gradually increase and not “price out” residents.
Schaftlein said this also allows the market to come in and bring neighborhoods back to “healthy appraisal values.” She said they hope to continue this trend to diversify housing opportunities for Memphians.
In order to be eligible to purchase one of these units, applicants must meet income requirements and complete a homebuyer education course through United Housing.