<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The Lake Charles housing market is changing, and city officials said people looking to buy affordable starter homes are going to find the search increasingly difficult.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">To help address the problem, Mayor Randy Roach recently authored a resolution focused on what he said is a gap in the market for homes costing $175,000 or less. The price point is one popular for recent college graduates and first-time homebuyers, according to several local real estate agents.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Roach’s resolution will allow the city to issue a request for proposals to obtain a consultant to help local agencies implement a program that will provide housing in areas not being served by real estate developers.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Moffett Realty agent Mary Ann Booth, who has been involved with the local housing market for over 40 years, agreed that the city’s market has changed.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Booth said the cost of land will play a large role in the affordable housing development. If a developer spends a lot on land, the houses placed there will have to be priced to recoup the cost, she said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Lots are just really expensive here. I’ve sometimes wondered why that is but, honestly, the prices have just been high from the get-go. It’s supply and demand,” she said. “Everything increases in relation to the good-paying jobs that we have, and we are starting to have a lot of those with all of the industry in the area.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Booth said one of the most popular housing price ranges is $250,000 to $300,000.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Roach’s resolution is based on a GO Group study, which showed that the industrial expansion and associated population boom would require 8,500 permanent housing units and up to 12,000 at peak demand.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“There is an incredible amount of pressure on the housing market right now,” Roach said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">As the city expands, certain areas south of town are becoming more popular. The cost of land in these areas is also increasing. Booth said one way the city could accommodate the proposal for affordable homes would be to build in places where the land is cheaper.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">She said areas in north Lake Charles, as well as some of the surrounding communities, would be great places to begin.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“It may be in areas a little father out, but there’s land out there and somebody has to be willing to develop it,” Booth said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The GO Group’s report said 22,000 new residents are expected to be living in the area by 2019 and that Calcasieu Parish will see an overall increase of 86 percent in new growth and unincorporated areas will see 66 percent.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Booth said the city starting its efforts is a good sign and could one day lead to a solution, but that it will take time. “Everybody has to work together toward that common goal,” she said.</span>

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<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Follow J</span>ustin Phillips on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/JustinAmPress">twitter.com/JustinAmPress</a>

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</span><p>(MGNonline)</p>