Rally Day is upon us! If you’re not on the pro-housing “bus,” then you’re part of the problem.
On Wednesday, March 20, more than 150 builder, remodeler and associate members of the GHBA will converge upon the state capitol for a day of advocacy, education and networking in Austin. Through the GHBA, political advocacy is immediately accessible and effective. Regardless of your political leanings, you should all be pro-housing advocates and voters. Homeownership and homebuilding have historically demonstrated benefits that are easy to get behind.
Homeownership betters the lives of millions of Americans by cultivating a sense of community, creating wealth and providing financial security. In addition, there are numerous tax benefits which allow Americans to keep more of their hard earned money in their pockets.
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Homebuilding and remodeling also have other great economic effects for our community. I’d like to share a number of statistics, and I encourage you to take note of their importance and share with others in your day-to-day operations.
A National Association of Builders (NAHB) study found that the one-year impact of construction of 100 single family homes creates 394 local jobs and more than $28.7 million in income, as well as $3.6 million in taxes and other revenue for local government. That’s impressive for a single year! The benefits continue for years to come. The same study found the one-year local impact of $1 million spend on residential remodeling generates $841,000 of local income, $71,000 in taxes and other government revenue, as well as 11.5 jobs.
NAHB also found that housing’s combined contribution to the national Gross Domestic Product averages 15-18%, which consists of 3-5% residential investment, as well as 12-13% from consumption spending on housing services, such as rent, utilities, etc.
Housing is vital to our economy, but affordability is an ever-increasing barrier. NAHB estimates that nationally, a $1,000 increase in the cost of a median-priced new home will price 127,560 U.S. households out of the market, with 3,622 of those being in the Greater Houston area.
Considering housing is so great for people, the economy, job creation, and government revenue AND also considering that slight increases in cost have catastrophic effects, you would assume all politicians would focus policy on housing affordability, but the facts speak otherwise. NAHB studies find, on average, regulations imposed by government account for 24.3% of the final price of a new single family home.
The facts are clear. Housing is great for you, for our city, county, state and country. It unmistakably improves the lives of individuals and communities while also generating enormous economic activity and government revenue. One can’t help but wonder how dramatically results would improve and how much more accessible the American Dream would be if our government invested in affordable housing instead of creating obstacles. The call to action is now.
Even if you miss the Rally Day bus on March 20, your help and engagement in political advocacy is still critically needed throughout the year. We need people to serve as subject matter experts, attend government meetings, contribute to HOME-PAC, and most importantly to invest in themselves and their community by voting pro-housing.
Keep any eye out for “Call to Action” notices, put the association’s voter guide to good use, and to get further involved, contact Caroline at cconte@ghba.org.
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