WISCONSIN— The pandemic has impacted many things, including affordable housing.  

According to data from the Urban Institute, the largest price increases are at the low end of the market. A jump of 126% compared to 86% for the higher end: a trend one nonprofit is seeing in Wisconsin.

Acts Housing makes homeownership possible for families with income, credit, language, and other barriers. It saw a record level of interest in homeownership in 2020, but now families are facing another hurdle.  

The purchase price of a move-in-ready home increased by 14% last year for Acts Housing families. That's $15,000 more than 2019 prices. 

For families who purchased distressed properties, prices increased by 28%. Dorothy York, Chief Operating Officer for Acts Housing pointed out, "... rehab homes take a certain amount of money to get them ready to be occupied, and when it takes more of their money to purchase there's not enough left."

York said it's taking longer for families to find a home they can afford.  

"We're looking for other opportunities to increase the amount of inventory that's available. We are looking at our own lending criteria to see if we can adjust that to make homeownership more affordable to people."

Looking at 2021 York told us, "I see this problem continuing, but I feel like Acts Housing has the right models of a program to get more families into homeownership."