OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Ottawa County is experiencing some of the fastest housing growth in Michigan, however, a new report shows middle-income and first-time homebuyers still face significant challenges in finding affordable options.
Housing Next released their Housing Needs Assessment looking at the progress that's been made and projections for the next five years. The report revealed 5,479 homes have been built in the past five years. However, 3,938 rental units and 12,526 for-sale homes will need to be built in the county by 2030 in order to keep up with demand.
WATCH: Ottawa County housing growth outpaces state, but affordability challenges remain
Ryan Kilpatrick with Housing Next praised the county and developer's work keeping up with the demand, but says more work needs to be done bringing the cost for housing down.
The average cost for a house in Ottawa County is around $381,000, putting homeownership out of reach for many first-time buyers.
"We need to do a better job building new stock in that $250 to $350,000 price point," Kilpatrick said.
One solution the county is pursuing is the construction of smaller homes to meet changing demographic needs.
"The average size of a household has gotten smaller, but at the same time the average size of a home being built has gotten bigger. We want to bring that down into check to meet the needs where our population is now," Paul Sachs said.
Sachs, director for the Department of Strategic Impact in Ottawa County, explained that their goal is to provide sufficient housing without negatively impacting the county's important agriculture industry.
He acknowledged hearing concerns from residents about water infrastructure limitations but suggested that smaller housing with higher density development could address those issues.
"To build smaller homes is a need throughout the county to hit the price points and attainability for people," Sachs said.
While county officials are pleased with progress made so far, they continue working with local municipalities to expand housing options.
"There's a myriad of approaches that we're looking at from a county perspective all in collaboration with our partners externally to make this happen," Sachs said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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