Chamber of Commerce reacts to Elkhart County housing issue

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind.- Young homeowners are hard to come by in Elkhart County, according to a new study.
The data claims more millennials are opting out of homeownership, but the chamber of commerce says that’s not the real issue.

This study is from a New York based company called Gavop; it’s from 2009 to 2015. It basically looks at home-ownership rates for all age groups.

The graph shows there’s a decline in home-ownership in Elkhart County among younger age groups. But Kyle Hannon, President of the chamber, is saying a bigger problem that needs attention, “It’s not so much that the desire of millennials to want homes is lagging. It’s more a matter of if suddenly they want to buy a house, where are they going to get one, if we don’t have the housing stock.”

Hannon says he understand what Gavop’s study is trying to do, but dismisses the county’s problem of available homes.
“It’s a weird market because the inventory is so low. I don’t think you can make any statements on what young, old or any people are doing and the study attempted to do that,” says Hannon. “Good for them.”

Kevin Pryor analyzed this data and explains the county’s recession is a factor along with millennials.

“There’s also a social demographic thing where younger people are focusing on their education and profession life, as compared to the past, they tend to not settle down in one area for too long,” says Pryor.

Again, Hannon says at this point the county has a problem that has to be fixed sooner than later.

“The houses are being gobbled up as soon as they’re on the market. That’s an issue,” he says. “We’re trying to attract lots of talent to the area, but where are they going to live?”