County Releases Rental Housing Survey, For-Sale Housing Report

Poughkeepsie, NY … Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro announced the County’s Department of Planning & Development has released two annual reports detailing housing in Dutchess County: the longstanding Rental Housing Survey and a new For-Sale Housing Report.

The Rental Housing Survey has been published annually since 1980, and this year focuses on three rental categories: Market Rate Apartment Complexes (20+ units), Tax Credit and Inclusionary Apartments, and Subsidized Housing. The For-Sale Housing Report analyzes sales, prices, new home construction and housing characteristics for one-family homes, looking at trends both historically and in 2021. The reports combine to provide a comprehensive look at the state of housing in Dutchess County.

County Executive Molinaro said, “Communities throughout the nation, including Dutchess County, are facing housing challenges, though few are taking as many actions to overcome them as Dutchess. Two of those actions are our Rental Housing Survey and For-Sale Housing Report – critical resources to help local municipalities, developers and residents see the countywide view of both rental and home ownership issues and provide perspective on what needs to be done to ensure safe, affordable housing for all.”

Major takeaways from the 2021 Rental Housing Survey include:

• The vacancy rate in Market Rate Apartment Complexes hit a historic low of 0.6%, the lowest rate since the inception of the report.
• The rate of apartment construction, at 417 new units, was the second highest in the past 15 years.
• Average rents for Market Rate Apartment Complexes increased more than 7% (7.3%-7.9%) for one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Reported studio rents decreased, not necessarily because of an actual rent decrease but because of the small sample size and a shift in which complexes reported this year compared to last.
• Average rents for Tax Credit and Inclusionary Apartments decreased for studios and three-bedrooms units (-2.3% and -2.7%, respectively), while increasing for one- and two-bedroom units (4.8% and 1.1%, respectively).

The 2021 Rental Housing Survey includes a new section, the Overview of All Affordable Housing, which pulls together the data on affordable housing developments throughout the County and is paired with an explanation of different types of subsidies related to affordable housing – both past and present.

Major takeaways from the For-Sale Housing Report include:

• The number of sales in 2021 rose 15% from 2020 and has nearly tripled over the last decade. The early months of the year were particularly busy, as the County crested a pandemic housing wave.
• The cities of Beacon and Poughkeepsie had the most active markets in 2021, with approximately 6.5% of Beacon homes, and approximately 5.5% of City of Poughkeepsie homes, changing hands.
• The median home price in 2021 increased by 11% from 2020 to $380,000. Prices peaked in June before falling slightly in later months.
• New one-family home construction remained at the same low level it has been at for more than a decade, with 327 new homes recorded, compared to more than 1,000 new homes each year during the early 2000s.
• After several decades of steady increase, new home square footage and lot size fell in the last decade. In 2021 the median lot size for a single-family home was 1 acre, down from nearly 1.6 acres a decade ago, while the median square footage was 2,400, down nearly 500 square feet from 2012.
• Over the last few decades, rising prices have made it harder for some to save for the down payment and closing costs necessary to buy a home; but mortgage payments have remained steady, relative to their percentage of median income, largely due to very low interest rates. That may be changing now with interest rates on the rise.

The For-Sale Housing Report will now be published annually along with the Rental Housing Survey. The Department of Planning and Development welcomes feedback on the new report; any comments or questions can be sent to plandev@dutchessny.gov.

To similarly address local housing concerns, County Executive Molinaro is directing more than $12 million for the creation of a countywide Housing Trust Fund to provide a flexible and nimble funding source to aid the implementation of a variety of affordable housing efforts, as recommended in the 2022 Dutchess County Housing Needs Assessment, targeting affordability for low- and moderate-income residents throughout the County.