The city has set aside more than $5 million for affordable housing programs over the next five years, hoping to mitigate the trend of soaring housing costs in the city.
The sale of homes worth $400,000 or more in the Columbia school district increased by 49% from 2016 to 2018, and there remains an eight-month supply of such homes, according to a fact sheet published by the city’s Housing Programs Division on Sept. 3. Meanwhile, the sale of homes worth $200,000 or less decreased by 4%, and only a two-month supply exists.
Home prices in Boone County have also seen an increase. For single-family homes over the same time period, there was around a $30,000 increase in the average price of homes and about $25,000 increase in the median price from 2014 to 2018, according to statistics by the Columbia Board of Realtors.
The board’s monthly data points show an average increase of almost $60,000 in the average price of homes and an increase of more than $45,000 in the median price of homes when comparing September 2015 to September 2018.
It is getting more and more challenging to own homes in Columbia because of the cost of materials, permit fees and land costs, said Brian Toohey, chief executive officer of the Board of Realtors.
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