Abundant Housing Michigan

06/05/2026

From

"To see how rents changed in areas with different income levels, Pew researchers looked at the change in each individual ZIP code tracked by Zillow and located that ZIP code’s median income in publicly available data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Then, they compared rent change by ZIP code by income quartile, relative to the highest income quartile, controlling for the socioeconomic characteristics of the ZIP code and the metropolitan area in which each is located. The bottom quartile had median incomes below $43,302 in 2017, while the top quartile had median incomes above $69,804 in 2017. The lowest-income quarter of ZIP codes faced an average rent increase that was 10 percentage points more than the highest-income quarter of ZIP codes."

This housing shortage is placing immense pressure on our lower and middle class. It's time to legalize housing and to legalize many different types of housing for different lifestyles. That's what HB 5529-5532 & 5581-5585 do; together, they're the Michigan Housing Readiness bill package. LETS BUILD, MICHIGAN

06/04/2026

The data is consistent and clear: the housing shortage is no longer a problem for just the coastal cities -- it's headed our way.

Data from Real page shows that home prices are jumping up, sometimes over 4.0% YoY across Michigan and the Midwest, demonstrating just how critical it is that we start building more housing ASAP. Demand is outstripping supply and it's pressing Michigan families into serious cost of living challenges.

It's time to pass the Michigan Housing Readiness bill package (HB 55-29-5532 & 5581-5585) which legalizes affordable home types like smaller homes on smaller lots, ADUs and Duplexes in communities where they have the infrastructure to support them. LET'S BUILD, MICHIGAN!

06/02/2026

Michigan is falling behind our Midwest neighbors in housing production, our median home price has jumped up 5.3% in a single year (April 2025-April 2026) according to RedFin, and our home vacancy rate is at an abysmal 0.8%, far below the target of 5.0%. we are on a housing shortage, full-stop.

It's time to solve this issue. It's time to legalize housing. Tell your state reps to vote yes on the Michigan Housing Readiness bill package (HB 5529-5532 & 5581-5585). LETS BUILD, MICHIGAN!

06/01/2026

Homelessness is shooting up, reaching record highs. Some may dismiss this as an issue unrelated to the housing shortage, but homelessness is more common where rents are expensive.

Quoting Salim Furth in Works In Progress:

"In the recent book "Homelessness Is a Housing Problem," Clayton Page Aldern and Gregg Colburn argue that although individual risk factors can help explain who becomes homeless, they cannot empirically explain the rate of homelessness in a city or region. Although unemployment and drug abuse are risk factors for individual homelessness, they are negatively correlated with the rates of homelessness across cities. In fact, the cities with the highest rates of homelessness, such as San Francisco and New York, are those with the highest wages, least unemployment, lowest poverty rates – and highest housing costs."

"Housing costs and individual risk factors both matter – and the puzzle piece that links them is the role of family and friends. When housing is cheap, relatives and friends tend to have more space in their homes, enabling them to keep someone at risk of homelessness off the street and on their medications. When space is tight, the people forced out are those who are hardest to live with."

05/28/2026

Speaker Matt Hall AND Governor Gretchen Whitmer are speaking up about the need to reform our land-use policies and regulations around housing. Not only them, but legislators from across the aisle and across the State are leading the cause by introducing the Michigan Housing Readiness bill package (HB 5529-5532 & 5581-5585), which legalizes more affordable homes and more types of homes to fill the many different needs of our Michigan communities.

When you have leaders and lawmakers from every corner supporting this package, the opportunity is RED HOT. It's time to legalize housing, Michigan!

05/27/2026

We hear a lot about how the housing shortage impacts our wallets, but the data shows it's having wide-reaching implications -- impacting our ability to even afford a family.

The trend is undeniable. With rising housing costs outpacing income, major life milestones are being pushed back -- and that has major implications, including the success and viability of your local school district if enrollment continues to drop.

Let's make room for the next generation and legalize housing today. Let's pass the Michigan Housing Readiness bill package (HB 5529-5532 & 5581-5585) NOW!

05/26/2026

05/22/2026

Cities that have added housing at a rapid clip have curbed both rent growth and displacement. From Pew Charitable Trusts:

"Eleven large metropolitan areas increased their housing supply by at least 10% from 2017 to 2023. Collectively, they saw average rents decline from 2023 to 2024 for large apartment buildings tracked by RealPage Explore [...] Looking at more than 41,000 large apartment buildings in 223 metro areas, there was a clear trend: Class C rents decreased more, relative to those for units in Class A buildings. In high-supply metro areas (those that increased their housing stock by at least 10% from 2017 to 2023), rent growth was slower than in average markets. Crucially, rent growth slowed most for Class C units, demonstrating that the additional supply was especially helpful to people living in lower-cost apartments."

This is what we must do to address Michigan's mounting housing shortage -- we've got to BUILD HOMES! This is exactly the focus of the Michigan Housing Readiness Package (HB 5529-5532 and 5581-5585) -- it legalizes more gentle infill homes in our communities that have the infrastructure already available to support them.

Source: RealPage Explore data downloaded for the 150 largest metropolitan areas available; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, five-year estimates, 2013-17; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, five-year estimates, 2019-23

05/19/2026

Parking ain't free! A single parking spot in a structure routinely costs between $60,000-100,000! And when parking is mandated by the government, that's a recipe for absolutely unaffordable housing

UNFORTUNATELY, that is the status quo; government policy MANDATES new housing must construct parking as well, adding immense costs on Michiganders, workers, families and communities. It's time to END THE NONSENSE. Pass the Housing Readiness package (HB 5529-5532 & 5581-5585) today! Call your representative and let them know you want them to address affordability!