LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The housing shortage in Central Kentucky and beyond is presenting a challenge for businesses looking to attract talent to the area.
At Wednesday's Regional Summit in downtown Lexington, hosted by Commerce Lexington, housing and talent recruitment were both key issues for entrepreneurs, government leaders and policy experts.
According to Anetha Sanford, CEO and executive vice president of the Homebuilders Association of Kentucky, the current housing shortage stands at over 200,000 units statewide. She expects that number to grow to 500,000 units by 2050.
"It's great to bring economic development here in the state of Kentucky, but we need to have housing for the new jobs and the new people that will be moving here. They need a place to live," Sanford said.
Home pricing was also discussed during a panel at Wednesday's summit.
According to the latest data from Bluegrass Realtors, the median home price in Fayette County rose from $225,000 in October 2019 to $334,000 in October 2024.
Bringing that cost down will require more supply.
"We really need to streamline the development process, so that we can build more homes, faster," Sanford said.
Raquel Carter, owner and CEO of Guide Realty in Lexington, sees the impacts of the housing shortage from both ends.
As a broker, she sees the increased demand for housing. As an employer, she sees the problems the housing market can have on recruiting and retaining talented employees.
"We don't want to force people out of what could really be a vibrant culture that we're creating here in Lexington," Carter said.
At Wednesday's summit, LEX 18 asked Governor Andy Beshear about the housing market's impact on business.
"Well we need to do more," Beshear said. "In my last budget, I proposed more money into the affordable housing trust fund, which has a nine to one private sector match when we look at the numbers, so what I was going to put in would've created $100 million more in over two years in affordable housing. General assembly chose not to do it, but they did put a group together that's been looking at it."
The hope among business leaders and homebuilders is that more can be done to make it easier to develop housing in Central Kentucky and prevent the problem from limiting economic growth in the state.
