NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB) -- In an effort to create more opportunities for new home owners, the city of New Albany enlisted the help of the University of Louisville's Urban Studies Institute (USI).
Over the next two months, the USI will assess the city's rental market and home ownership. Its director, Matt Ruther, said researchers will consider other factors such as the amount of public housing and number of short-term rentals like Airbnbs.
"The the general consensus among housing researchers is that there's a missing sort of middle housing," Ruther said. "So there's like apartment living — lots of apartments, lots of luxury apartments — and there's a lot of higher-end living, but there's not a lot of starter homes anymore, something in that $100,000-$200,000 range. There's just not a lot of that, and it's not really being built very much."
Part of the goal is to identify areas where New Albany could take action to improve home ownership opportunities. In a news release, New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan said as the city has grown, developers have invested in apartments and rental units. But he believes its time to focus on long-term home ownership.
"This partnership with the Urban Studies Institute is a great first step in planning for the future of housing in New Albany," Gahan said.
Ruther said his team will generate a report based upon housing availability, demographics of the city and area economics to give New Albany a pathway forward.
"This is a really important issue, and it's certainly not going to be changing going forward," he said. "... Inflation was pretty high this year, but, in general, housing costs are increasing faster than inflation, which is not a sustainable solution to anything."
Results of the study will be ready by mid-September.
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