Syracuse residents will soon have better access to affordable homes. Gov. Kathy Hochul unpacked her $500 million dollar housing strategy in Syracuse on Thursday. The plan also helps builders to secure funding to build smaller, starter homes. Her goal is to address the need for housing over the next decade by constructing 30,000 homes as Micron gradually opens. Hochul said Syracuse was one of the first cities to embrace her plans.
“And I want to make sure that we build more housing so costs for working families come down. Economics 101, you build more houses the prices come down," she said. "I want people to know there is a home waiting for them.”
Language in the state budget ensures homebuyers’ real estate offers must be considered first by law, three months ahead of companies. Hochul said first-time homebuyers are too frequently being priced out of the market when private equity firms make cash offers.
“And that’s one of the reasons we have a housing crisis. So, they’ll have to wait 90 days. And I’m pretty certain within 90 days they’ll be others' offers that will be accepted. That’s going to give a real leg-up to our residents and take away an advantage that the corporate private equity firms have had,” she said.
Lawmakers are putting the finishing touches on the state budget. When it comes to the governor’s housing plan, $100 million dollars is earmarked to stimulate community home construction in cities like Syracuse, and 50 million is available for mixed income development. There’s also funding for a pilot program to address homelessness for households, sparing families from foreclosure. Click here to learn about the governor's housing strategy in more detail.