Legislative Days 2026: Strong Conversations, Real Opportunities Ahead
Housing Oregon wrapped up another successful Legislative Days with three full days of meetings at the Capitol - June 15-17, 2026. Board members, policy council leaders, and staff met with 24 legislators from across Oregon to discuss the challenges facing affordable housing providers and the policy opportunities ahead of the 2027 legislative session.
Housing remains a priority
Many conversations centered on the impact of potential federal cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other safety-net programs. Legislators expressed concern that affordable housing providers will increasingly become the last line of defense for many Oregonians if those cuts move forward.
Despite those concerns, legislative leaders indicated that affordable housing investments remain on the table. Housing Oregon heard encouraging signals that the Legislature intends to continue making significant investments through the state's bonding capacity, including resources for affordable housing production and preservation.
While the Emergency Board is expected to be cautious this summer because of anticipated wildfire costs, lawmakers suggested they continue to view housing bonds differently from ongoing General Fund obligations, leaving room for meaningful investments in 2027.
Preservation continues to gain momentum
Preservation remains one of Housing Oregon's top priorities, and Legislative Days reinforced that message.
Housing Oregon shared the growing need for portfolio stabilization and preservation resources, and lawmakers showed continued interest in technical improvements to existing preservation tools. Conversations also pointed toward possible committee legislation to make technical fixes to the Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credit.
OHCS also provided an excellent presentation during Legislative Days outlining the current preservation landscape, financial pressures facing affordable housing properties, and ongoing preservation efforts across Oregon.
Insurance is quickly becoming a top legislative issue
One topic came up in meeting after meeting: insurance.
Legislators from both parties recognize that rapidly rising property and liability insurance costs are threatening affordable housing operations across Oregon. There was broad interest in working with providers to identify solutions before more properties fall into financial distress.
Housing Oregon will continue working with Insurance Commissioner TK Keen, DCBS, legislators, and industry partners to evaluate options such as:
- Risk mitigation incentives
- Greater underwriting transparency
- Premium assistance
- Insurance captives and pooled purchasing models
- Other state policy tools that could help stabilize insurance costs
This will remain one of Housing Oregon's major policy priorities heading into 2027.
Housing Oregon would like to thank every member who participated in Legislative Days. Your stories, expertise, and willingness to meet directly with policymakers continue to strengthen our advocacy. As we begin preparing for the 2027 legislative session, we will continue refining these policy ideas through our Policy Councils and member workgroups. We look forward to working alongside you to build on the momentum from Legislative Days.
Housing Oregon Action Fund - A voice for Oregon’s community development sector
Housing Oregon is excited to announce our affiliate organization, the Housing Oregon Action Fund, a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization created to help candidates, policymakers, and voters understand what it takes to make housing more affordable, preserve the homes we already have, and reduce homelessness in communities across Oregon.
Oregon’s housing system is under real strain. Affordable housing providers are facing rising operating costs, preservation risks, insurance pressures, gaps in supportive services, and a shortage of homes affordable to low- and moderate-income Oregonians. At the same time, public investments in affordable housing, homeownership, preservation, homelessness response, and community development are making a real difference.
Housing Oregon Action Fund will be a voice for Oregon’s community development sector to make sure the people closest to this work can have a unified message to educate and convey housing policy solutions to voters and elected officials.
Together as affiliated organizations:
We support pro-housing leaders
We work to build trusted relationships with elected officials, candidates, and public leaders across party lines who understand the importance of community development, affordable housing, and homelessness response.
We educate candidates, policymakers and voters
Affordable housing is complex. We help the public understand housing finance, rental development, preservation, homeownership, shelter operations, resident services, land use, and the real-world conditions facing nonprofit and mission-driven housing providers.
We share the story of community development
We tell the story of what affordable housing investments do for Oregon communities: create stable homes, support seniors and people with disabilities, help families stay rooted, provide pathways out of homelessness, and strengthen local economies.
Oregon needs a strong, practical, pro-community development voice focused on housing finance and production, asset management and preservation, affordable homeownership development and more.
Together, we build thousands of affordable homes a year. We are making an impact. Good work does not speak for itself. It needs a clear public voice, trusted relationships, and the ability to communicate with decision makers and voters.
That is why the Housing Oregon Action Fund exists.
You can join our movement.
To learn more go to - https://housingoregon.org/housing-oregon-action-fund-redirect/
The ROAD to Housing Act Becomes Law
For the first time in more than three decades, Congress has enacted a major bipartisan housing package. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law on July 11 after passing the Senate 85–5 and the House 358–32. At a time when national politics can feel incapable of addressing the basic needs of working people, this overwhelming vote sends a clear message: the housing crisis is real, it is national, and communities need the federal government back at the table.
The law updates dozens of federal housing and community development programs. It includes new tools to build and preserve affordable housing, repair aging homes, stabilize manufactured home communities, improve disaster recovery, support modular construction, and reduce barriers that delay development. It also reforms rural housing programs, including changes intended to preserve affordable rental housing for approximately 400,000 rural families nationwide.
“This is a historic step forward for everyone working to ensure that people have a safe and affordable place to call home,” said Housing Oregon Executive Director Brian Hoop. “Congress has recognized that solving the housing crisis requires more than one program or one level of government. We need to build more homes, preserve the housing we already have, and support the community-based organizations that were built on meeting local needs and remain dedicated to the mission.”
One of the law’s most important accomplishments is the first reauthorization of the HOME Investment Partnerships Program since 1992. The law preserves the set-aside for Community Housing Development Organizations, affirming the central role nonprofit and community-based developers play in creating affordable homes and stronger neighborhoods. It also authorizes the PRICE program for seven years to preserve manufactured homes and parks, expands eligible uses of Community Development Block Grant funding, and supports improvements intended to help households with vouchers move into homes more quickly.
Read the full section by section summary here.
Thanks to Oregon's congressional delegation for their support and the many Housing Oregon members who responded to our action alerts and contacted their congress members urging them to support the bill.
This landmark legislation is not the end of the work. It does not resolve high construction costs, rising insurance premiums, elevated interest rates, workforce shortages, or the need for greater investments in rental assistance and deeply affordable housing. Many provisions will depend on federal rulemaking, agency guidance, and future funding from Congress. Housing Oregon will work with our members and national partners to ensure implementation serves Oregonians with the greatest housing needs. For now, this passage deserves celebration: sustained advocacy and bipartisan cooperation have produced the most substantial federal housing law in decades.
Full Text of the Road to Housing Act
This Is Not One Organization’s Story
A Statement from Affordable Housing Providers in the Portland Region
Signed by 34 organizations in response to an Oregonian story on June 9, 2026. Housing Oregon members are now developing an action plan to stabilize properties and portfolios we’ll share soon. Thanks to the HereTogether Coalition for collaborating on this statement.
CLICK HERE to go to PDF of statement with organizational endorsements
Every person who walks through the door of a nonprofit affordable housing building is trying to do something most of us take for granted: build a stable life. A safe place for their children to sleep. A foundation from which to find work, attend school, stay healthy, plan for the future, and age with dignity. These are not exceptional aspirations. They are the ordinary human hopes that stable housing makes possible.
We are the organizations that provide that housing and support the residents. Together, we serve thousands of families and individuals across the Portland metro region. We are writing because the Oregonian story that ran June 9 about Innovative Housing Inc. is real — and it is not unique.
What is happening at Innovative Housing is happening in varying degrees across our sector. These pressures are not limited to nonprofit providers. Private owners of affordable and workforce housing are facing the same cost increases, and the result is fewer new housing starts across the board. The financial pressures are real. The strain on operations is real. And none of it is the result of mismanagement or organizational failure. What we are seeing is a system under structural stress, surfacing first where the need is greatest.
The people we serve are carrying more.
The residents arriving at our doors today are facing challenges that were far less common a decade ago. Untreated mental illness. Addiction without access to treatment. Compounding healthcare needs coupled with escalating cost for care. Economic crises compounded by years of rising costs and stagnant wages. These are not conditions that stop at the threshold. They come with the residents, into the hallways and common
areas, into the relationships between neighbors, and into the daily work of our staff.
The systems necessary to support our residents were not designed to work together. We are absorbing the unmet demand from the behavioral health, social services, and public safety systems. We do this because our residents need it and because we are committed to them. But we are doing it on operating budgets that were not designed to carry that weight.
The housing wasn’t built for the people who need it most today.
When people ask why affordable housing units sit vacant while people sleep outside, the answer is not that the need has disappeared or a rejection of housing. It is that the housing was not built for the people who need it most.
Most affordable housing is built for households earning around 60 percent of area median income. But the greatest unmet need in this region is among people earning far less, households bringing home 30 percent of the median income or below. These are families working hard to find stability on incomes that don’t come close to the average Portland rent. They are adults living on disability benefits or minimum wage. They are
the people we most need to reach, and the current housing stock was largely not designed to serve them.
Vacant units also reflect the economic reality facing the residents already inside them. When families cannot pay rent because a job was lost, a health crisis hit, or federal benefits were cut, those units stop generating the revenue that keeps the building running, even when they are occupied. That is not a housing management problem. It is a poverty problem, and it requires a poverty response.
The system was built for a different moment.
The affordable housing system was not built with bad intentions. It was built for a different moment, by people doing their best with the resources and understanding they had. What has changed is the scale and complexity of what the system is now asked to carry.
Insurance costs have increased by hundreds of percent in some cases. Security costs have risen sharply. Maintenance and repair costs have grown. The staff time and training required to support residents navigating serious behavioral health and economic challenges is substantially greater than it was. Revenue structures, set years ago, were not designed to keep pace with any of this.
That is not a failure of intention. There is a gap between what we built and what we now need. And closing that gap is within reach, but it requires honest investment and honest policy.
Safety is not a distraction from this work. It is central to it.
We spend significant time, money, and staff capacity on the safety and livability of our buildings. We do it because our residents deserve to feel safe in their own homes, and because our staff deserve safe workplaces. We are not defending unsafe conditions. We are asking for the resources and the policy tools to address them effectively.
That means a serious and collaborative conversation about what thoughtful eligibility reform could look like, one that allows for context and proportionality rather than blunt, inflexible rules. It means behavioral health resources and wraparound services that reach people before crises escalate. It means a police response that actually shows up when providers call. And it means not conflating the need for safety with policies that
would push already vulnerable residents out of housing and into worse circumstances.
What we are asking for.
We recognize that some of our elected leaders are taking this seriously and have taken meaningful first steps. What we need now is a sustained plan, not a series of one-off responses. Local housing budgets are set. The cuts are real. We are not asking elected officials to pretend otherwise. What we are asking is that they refuse to treat those constraints as the end of the conversation.
Waiting for more affordable housing providers to reach the point of failure is not a fiscally responsible strategy. Every building lost means residents displaced, units permanently removed from the affordable stock, and a far more expensive crisis to manage on the other side. The cost of prevention is a fraction of the cost of collapse.
We are calling on our city, county, and state leaders to bring every available tool to bear on this problem. The solutions include regulatory relief, preservation financing, and acquisition strategies that have worked before in this region. What is needed is flexible funding, creative financing, intergovernmental coordination, and a genuine partnership with the providers who are closest to the work. We also need the political will to pursue them before the next organization sends the next letter.
The solutions exist. A generation ago, this region came together to preserve affordable housing when federal use restrictions expired. Fifteen years ago we found creative strategies to weather the Great Recession. The difference today is that we cannot count on the federal government as a partner. That means the leadership has to come from here. What is needed now is the political will to act before the next organization sends the next letter.
The family trying to get their kids to school on time, the older adult on a fixed income who finally has a stable place to land, the person who just got out of treatment and needs a front door that stays open: none of them can wait for this to sort itself out. The providers who serve them cannot either.
This is the moment to act.
Central Oregon Housing Summit Energizes Regional Industry Professionals
Nearly 250 individuals joined the Central Oregon Housing Summit on Tuesday, June 9 at Eagle Crest Lodge near Redmond, Oregon. The event brought together industry professionals, government officials, and business leaders dedicated to developing and preserving affordable housing in the region. This was Housing Oregon’s third annual rural affordable housing summit.
A major theme was building a collective vision for advancing affordable housing and supportive services in Central Oregon while navigating through significant federal housing policy and state budgetary challenges. At the same time, presenters opened the event acknowledging a success - the annual Point-in-Time count recorded the number of homeless people living in Central Oregon had fallen by nearly 20% - the first time in years that number has not increased.
Thanks to our sponsors who made the event possible including Oregon Housing and Community Services, Pinnacle Architecture, DLCD’s Housing Accountability and Production Office, Hayden Homes, SAJ Architecture, OHCS Multifamily Energy Program, and Hunt Capital Partners.
Lunch Plenary Focuses on Hood River and Bend Dialogues on Local Revenue
Presenters during the lunch plenary shared reflections on dialogues in Hood River and Bend to explore options for new local revenue sources to meet their unique needs and build community understanding and support for funding solutions.
The Oregon legislature has stepped up and provided significant resources for housing production and homelessness services over the past decade. But there are growing signs of public frustration with the pace of progress with government programs funded to address these challenges. The housing crisis in Central Oregon means that community members and essential workers like nurses, teachers and first responders can't find an affordable place to live and work.
According to a 2023 Bend Chamber business survey, 81% of respondents said the lack of affordable housing has significantly affected their ability to attract and retain skilled workers. 91% stated high costs of housing limits business expansion and puts additional strain on the workforce. Data shows that over 50% of Bend's workforce does not reside in the city limits.
Preservation, Wildfire Resiliency, Faith-Based Housing Development and More
Central Oregon developers shared innovative strategies they’re using to increase housing production. This despite increasing challenges regarding constricted land availability and capital stack financing, increasing production costs, access to diversified construction teams, and climate change. Ryan Cain with Pinnacle Architecture led a conversation on efforts to preserve affordability on expiring properties as well as exploring the role of manufactured housing especially in the Columbia Gorge region.
As wildfires become more prevalent in the Pacific Northwest, panelists shared best practices for preparedness planning and options for hardening existing housing stock to ensure the resiliency of affordable housing stock when disaster strikes Central Oregon communities.
A well attended session explored the growing interest amongst faith-based organizations to put mission into practice by developing some of their property for affordable housing and homeless shelters. They shared success stories of how faith organizations and housing developers have carefully built partnerships from early dialogue, navigating predevelopment together, putting together complex capital stacks and construction teams.
Key Take-Aways from Participant Post-Event Evaluations
- Networking and Collaboration: Attendees highly valued the opportunity to connect, share ideas, and build relationships with a diverse group of stakeholders, including service providers, developers, investors, and policymakers, to foster a more unified approach to housing challenges.
- Diverse Perspectives: The summit successfully convened various industry voices, enabling participants to gain a broader regional understanding and appreciate that housing solutions require tailored approaches rather than one-size-fits-all strategies.
- Knowledge Sharing: Participants gained valuable insights into the complexities of the industry, including the specific factors that make implementing affordable housing more costly than market-rate development and the roles of various regional resources.
- Professional Inspiration: The high-quality plenary sessions and workshops provided attendees with a renewed sense of collective will and optimism about their ability to collaborate effectively to address homelessness and housing shortages.
Thanks to Our Planning Partners
Thanks to our event organizing partners including Housing Works, Columbia Cascades Housing Corporation, RootedHomes, Rural Community Assistance Corporation, and Urban League of Portland.
Additional $15 million in Portland Clean Energy Funds Secured for Affordable Housing
Housing Oregon’s advocacy helped secure an additional $15 million for carbon-reducing measures in affordable housing as part of the City of Portland’s Clean Energy Community Benefit Fund (PCEF) Climate Investment Plan approved by City Council at their March 11, 2026 meeting.
This increased PCEF funding for affordable housing to $78,7000,000 over the next five years and will support an estimated 580 additional high performance housing units. The goal is to ensure buildings are built and operated in a way that reduces carbon emissions, reduces operating costs, and improves resilience and health for tenants particularly for low-income residents and BIPOC households who are disproportionately impacted by climate change.
Housing Oregon has been advocating to support this proposal since November 2025 when the PCEF Committee first recommended an amendment to the Plan to increase funding for affordable housing. We also urged members to testify as Council’s Climate, Resilience and Land Use committee considered the proposal in January 2026.
At that time, the committee’s two co-chairs, Councilor’s Steve Novick and Angelita Morillo, had advocated to reject the PCEF Committee’s amendment and instead shift the $15 million to transportation projects. Housing Oregon again testified at the February 25, 2026 City Council meeting to include the full $15M for housing.
When layered with federal, state, and local housing funds, PCEF dollars expand project scope and unlock climate-forward building strategies that would otherwise be unattainable. Without these PCEF funds, many of these projects may not achieve full financing and could be built only to minimum code standards, resulting in higher utility costs.
Court Finds Residents Face Irreparable Harm and Bars Use of Tear Gas and Other Chemical Weapons Near Gray’s Landing Housing Community
Federal Court Orders DHS to Immediately Stop Flooding Portland Homes with Toxic Chemical Munitions
Reach CDC press release - Portland, Ore. — A federal court today ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to immediately stop deploying tear gas, smoke grenades, pepper balls, and other chemical munitions in ways that expose residents of Gray’s Landing, an affordable housing community in Portland, to toxic substances inside their homes. The U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon ruling prohibits federal officers from using chemical munitions that are likely to reach Gray’s Landing while the case proceeds, except when necessary to protect human life.
For months, federal agents have fired chemical weapons toward and around the 209-unit housing complex during protests at a nearby Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, despite knowing that the chemicals regularly seep into apartments, hallways, and common areas. Residents, including children, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities, have reported respiratory distress, chest pain, panic attacks, and repeated emergency medical visits, as well as being forced to wear gas masks indoors and seal their homes.
The plaintiffs, Gray’s Landing residents and REACH Community Development, are represented by Democracy Forward, Protect Democracy, Jacobson Lawyers Group PLLC, and Bradley Bernstein Sands LLP. Their filings argue that this conduct violates the Fifth Amendment by infringing on residents’ rights to bodily integrity, among other rights. The court found that defendants were likely deliberately indifferent to the harms to the plaintiffs “based on the quantity of chemical munitions used, the distance from the Portland ICE Facility to the impact areas, the fact that chemical munitions are being used contrary to the advice in agency use of force manuals, and particularly in light of Defendants’ specific notice of harm to Resident Plaintiffs.” The court noted that this threatened “the Resident Plaintiffs’ rights to the most fundamental aspects of liberty known since the early days of our democracy.”
“This ruling affirms what residents have been saying for months,” said Margaret Salazar, CEO of REACH Community Development. “Gray’s Landing is home to families, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities who have experienced repeated exposure and real harm. Today’s decision acknowledges that impact and reinforces that government action must respect clear constitutional limits when it reaches into residential communities. This is an important step toward accountability and the protection of residents’ rights in their homes.”
“This is a powerful victory for people who have used their voices to fight back against unconstitutional government violence,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “The court recognized that poisoning a residential community with toxic chemicals is a profound abuse of power. This decision protects basic health and safety and the right to live in one’s home without fear of chemical weapons being used by the government. Residents should not be harmed simply because they live next to a site of public protest.”
“Today’s ruling is a victory for the families at Gray’s Landing, but it also serves as a fierce rebuke of a federal agency that believes it can wage war on American neighborhoods with impunity,” said Katie Schwartzmann, Special Counsel at Protect Democracy. “From Los Angeles to Chicago to Minnesota, and in Portland too, we have witnessed a coordinated campaign by DHS to sow chaos and terrorize communities—citizens and non-citizens alike—under the guise of immigration enforcement. This court has now affirmed what we have long argued: the government cannot knowingly poison families in their own homes.”
“We are both thrilled and relieved that the Court has provided protection to our clients that have been suffering from the government’s shocking conduct for months. Our clients simply want to be able to live and breathe in their own homes without being subject to poison toxins released by their own government, and this order will help ensure they can,” said Dan Jacobson of the Jacobson Lawyers Group PLLC.
The case is REACH Community Development et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security et al. Read the decision here and the complaint here.
Housing Oregon Welcomes Senate Passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
Housing Oregon is encouraged to see the U.S. Senate pass the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on March 12 by an 89-10 vote. The package brings together major pieces of the Senate’s earlier ROAD to Housing Act and the House-passed Housing for the 21st Century Act, making it one of the most substantial bipartisan housing packages Congress has moved in many years. Housing Oregon endorsed this concept during our October Policy Council meetings.
The bill would place new limits on large institutional investors buying single-family homes, modernize federal support for manufactured and modular housing, create tools to convert vacant commercial and industrial buildings into housing, expand flexibility in federal housing programs, and reward state, local, tribal, and regional efforts to cut barriers and speed up housing production.
The House passed a related housing package earlier this year, so Congress still needs to reconcile the differences between the two versions before a final bill can move to the president’s desk. Even so, the Senate vote is a real step forward and a welcome sign that housing affordability, supply, and fair access to homeownership and rental opportunity can still draw broad bipartisan support.
For more to read: Up For Growth - Coalition Statement: Senate Passes 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
2025 Housing Oregon Conference: A Record-Breaking Gathering for Housing Justice
2025 Housing Oregon Conference: A Record-Breaking Gathering for Housing Justice
A sold-out event uniting 1,300 advocates, 94 workshops, and powerful conversations on housing justice
The 2025 Annual Housing Oregon Conference and Gala built on past success and reached new milestones, selling out for the third consecutive year with more than 1,300 housing advocates from across Oregon gathering on September 15 & 16, 2025.
The 2025 Conference was hosted at the Oregon Convention Center, which offered expanded space for more vendor booths, a modular home display, therapy dog, and a photo booth that brought extra energy to the gathering.
Thanks to our 90+ sponsors and vendors for their financial support.
Highlights included two powerful plenary sessions addressing Pathways to Social Housing: L.A. and Seattle Successes and First Steps in Oregon as well as the Impact of Federal Policy and Funding Cuts on Low-Income Communities and the Nonprofit Sector. There were ninety-four workshops addressing the most pressing affordable housing topics, and morning peer group gatherings that allowed participants to connect in person after many months of virtual meetings. A special highlight was our keynote speaker and YouTuber Uytae Lee, who brought fresh insights on the power of storytelling to inspire action and change.
As part of our ongoing tradition, we also celebrated the outstanding contributions of our peers at our Gala by presenting thirty-eight Leadership Awards to selected nominees who went above and beyond in the past year to make housing justice a reality.
Accessibility and inclusion remained central to our mission. With the support of ninety-two generous sponsors and partners, we continued to provide Spanish interpretation and, for the first time, American Sign Language interpretation. These steps helped ensure broader participation and engagement across our statewide housing community. Most workshops will be uploaded to the Housing Oregon YouTube channel later this fall.
This unique event was made possible by the incredible work of our conference committees, volunteers, members, and staff—as well as the ongoing and new sponsors who continue to champion affordable housing solutions.
The Housing Oregon team extends our deepest gratitude to everyone who helped make the 2025 conference and gala another unforgettable success. Housing justice is possible because of you.
Third Annual Up for Growth Housing Underproduction Report
Third Annual Up for Growth Housing Underproduction Report Finds US Housing Shortage Shows Signs of Stabilizing in Some Parts of the Country, Worsens in Others.
Underproduction nationwide stands at 3.85 million homes; analysis offers an intriguing snapshot of shifting regional trends in housing supply.
Washington, DC – Up for Growth, a cross-sector member network committed to solving the nation’s housing shortage and affordability crisis through data-driven research and evidence-based policy, today released its third annual report, Housing Underproduction in the U.S. 2024, a longitudinal study tracking housing underproduction – the gap between the housing we have and the housing we need.
Up for Growth’s most recent findings show nationwide underproduction reached 3.85 million homes in 2022. However, for the first time in more than a decade, housing underproduction decreased by 50,000 homes. This slight improvement was driven by low interest rates and historic demand for housing as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic began to lessen.
While the total number of missing homes decreased slightly, a regional look at the data suggests larger dynamics are at play. One driver of improvement along the West Coast was reduced demand for housing rather than adequate production. Moreover, the drivers of the housing shortage that have long plagued California and other states in the West are now presenting nearly uniformly in the middle of the country.
The year-over-year stabilization of housing underproduction masks the escalating urgency of the national housing shortage. “On its surface, the leveling of housing underproduction seems like positive news,” said Mike Kingsella, Chief Executive Officer of Up for Growth. “Instead, it illuminates the negative effects of long-term housing shortages along the West Coast. What’s happening in San Francisco should serve as a cautionary tale for metros like Nashville and Houston, which are struggling to adequately meet rising demand.”
The U.S. produced more single-detached homes in 2022 than in any of the 15 previous years, and new apartment construction reached its highest level since 1987. However, Kingsella believes there is ample reason to anticipate that some of the most difficult challenges lie ahead. New data suggests that a large, years-long backlog of multifamily home construction projects has finally been completed. Permits for new multifamily projects began to decline in 2023 and continue to fall dramatically in most metro areas due to high interest rates and escalating construction costs. “We should expect America’s housing shortage to get much worse very quickly without bold, federal interventions,” Kingsella said.
The Report’s findings, which measure housing underproduction from 2021 to 2022, update a 2023 Up for Growth report finding that housing underproduction in the U.S. reached 3.9 million homes in 2021, up from 1.6 million in 2012.
Up for Growth’s most recent report found the following:
Among states
All 50 states have housing underproduction. Housing underproduction worsened in 24 states between 2021 and 2022. The average U.S. state had a housing deficit of 75,000 homes.
The state with the most severe housing gap was California with a shortage of 840,000 homes.
The 10 states with the most severe housing underproduction (underproduced units as a share of total units) were, in order of severity: California, Idaho, the District of Columbia, Utah, Oregon, Washington State, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Colorado and Minnesota.
New Jersey is new to this list. Arizona dropped off, moving from number 9 in 2021 to 13 in 2022.
New Jersey was the biggest mover in terms of severity, up 5 spots to number 7 in 2022.
The 10 states with the highest number of missing units were California, Texas, New York, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois, Washington State, Georgia, Massachusetts and Arizona.
Among metropolitan areas
The total number of metros experiencing underproduction increased from 193 to 198, with 83% (256) of all markets worsening.
Metros with the highest housing underproduction in 2022 were:
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
- Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
Chicago moved into the top three metros with the highest housing underproduction for the first time since we began tracking in 2012.
San Francisco dropped out of the top 10, coming in at number 18 behind Seattle, Minneapolis and Detroit.
“Today, not a single state is meeting its housing needs, leaving our nation poorer, less productive, and less resilient,” said Kingsella. “But it is possible to enable the housing market to produce more of the types of homes people want and can afford. Congress must act swiftly on a bold housing supply agenda. We must encourage localities to eliminate outdated and artificial barriers, invest in innovative building technologies, fund community-serving infrastructure and prioritize resources for the production and preservation of affordable homes. Without decisive, sustained federal action, this crisis will only deepen. This is about more than housing—it’s about securing the future of our nation.”
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Up for Growth® is a 501(c)(3) cross-sector member network committed to solving the housing shortage and affordability crisis through data-driven research and evidence-based policy.
Oregon Health Authority Launches Groundbreaking Housing Benefits for Oregon Health Plan Recipients
Oregon Health Plan (OHP) recipients now have access to housing benefits through the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), a significant first-in-the-nation initiative enabled by OHA’s new 1115 Waiver. With Oregon facing a rapid increase in housing instability and the need for a more robust safety net, this new benefit aims to bridge gaps in housing support and prevent homelessness.
Effective November 1, current OHP recipients can apply for Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN) services through OHA. These services target critical needs like housing stability and nutritional access, essential to overall health and well-being. By offering targeted support, the OHA hopes to lessen the health impacts of housing instability for vulnerable Oregonians.
What the New Benefits Offer: Eligible OHP members may receive up to six months of rent assistance, home modifications for health and safety, and support to help them maintain their current housing. However, these benefits are specifically for those “at risk of homelessness,” meaning recipients must currently have housing but lack the resources or networks to avoid displacement.
Designed as a preventative measure, the program is not suited for urgent or emergency situations, as application processing may take up to two weeks. Instead, these services are a critical addition to Oregon’s eviction prevention efforts, addressing housing issues before they reach a crisis level.
For detailed information on eligibility and application steps, please visit the Oregon Health Authority website. This new initiative reflects Oregon’s commitment to comprehensive health care that recognizes housing as a fundamental component of health.