MALVERN, Iowa (KMTV) — Wabash Landing, a 61-unit housing development in Malvern, will have 20 homes available to buyers with moderate-to-low incomes. It's part of the 2019 flood recovery money from the State of Iowa. Mills County is considered part of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area, which means income caps for these subsidized homes range from about $61,000 for a single person to $79,000 for a family of three people.
- Homes will be built for approximately $315,000, but sold for $175,000.
- With additional down payment assistance, buyers could ultimately spend $140,000 to $150,000. A price tag not often seen on a newly built home nowadays.
- Wabash Landing Developer Heath Paulsen says it's hard to build anything for less than $275,000 and existing smaller homes are either being purchased as rental properties or not being sold at all because owners are hanging onto home mortgages with lower interest rates.
- TO APPLY: SWIPCO.ORG
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
We hear the term "affordable housing" a lot these days, but what is it and what does it really mean? I'm your southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter, Katrina Markel, in Malvern and I'm here because this is the site of Wabash Landing – a 61 unit housing development that's intended to meet some of this county's affordable housing needs.
Block grant money from the State of Iowa is subsidizing Wabash Landing. It's recovery money from the 2019 floods with priority given to flood-displaced neighbors.
Twenty, out of the 61 homes, will be built for more than $300,000 and sold for $175,000. With added down payment assistance, buyers who qualify will spend about $150,000.
Joe George: "It's really difficult that we're calling this affordable housing."
Malvern City Clerk Joe George says the subsidized homes are for folks with low-to-moderate income; that means an income cap of about $79,000 for a family of three.
Metropolitan-area bedroom communities, like the ones in Mills County, are poised for growth, but leaders say they need more housing.
"Part of the issue is that the industry is moving away from smaller, starter homes. What you could call the ‘missing middle,’" said George.
Wabash Landing Developer Heath Paulsen says it's hard to build anything for less than $275,000 and existing smaller homes are either being purchased as rental properties or not being sold at all because the owners have low interest rates.
"Most of the time it's more cost-effective to build the larger houses, you know, the $300-500 because they make more profit in it," Paulsen said.
Because more land is available in small towns, Paulsen told me they don't have to build duplexes and the lots can be bigger.
"So, essentially, they're getting like a $3-315,000 house for roughly $140,000,” he said.
Joe George told me that interested neighbors can apply now at SWIPCO.org and the first houses are expected to be sold in early 2025.
