SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) –Housing has been a hot topic across the country all year as interest rates and home prices continue to rise.
Today, developers, real estate and finance industry leaders gathered to discuss some of these key issues. A look inside SDSU’s Land and Lending Conference in tonight’s Your Money Matters.
“It’s not just one area, not just one professional or one industry, it’s all of it,” SDSU Ness School of Management and Economics professor Ryan McKnight said.
From appraisers to lawyers, title companies, brokers, lenders and developers, SDSU’s Ness School of Management and Economics puts together the Land and Lending conference to bring all of the industry leaders together.
“In today’s market with interest rates being high, housing always being a crisis, development always being an issue, we thought today addressing these issues head-on,” McKnight said.
“Just building a lot of housing will not solve problems as it is,” Phillips said.
Shane Phillips is an author and urban planner from L.A. who spoke to South Dakota’s housing industry about how to address rising concerns over affordable housing.
“Prices have increased, they’ve doubled in less than a decade, if that is the trajectory of the region, then it’s $300,000 for a median price home now, if it’s $600,000 in 2030, you’re going to be in real trouble,” Phillips said.
He says studying what’s happened over the past two decades in growth communities like L.A. and Seattle can help new up-and-coming communities like Sioux Falls avoid similar issues.
“How do other cities that are not at this stage yet, where homes are nearly a million dollars as the median price, how do they take action now before things get so bad they feel they have very few options,” Phillips said.
It’s action this room of industry leaders is already tackling in KELOLAND, while also working to recruit the next generation of professionals who will continue to grow housing options in the region.
“It seems like that’s what the industry really wants is to get in front of our students, we brought down almost 100 students having them interview, network, with these companies,” McKnight said.
“It’s nice to learn about real estate and see things in South Dakota and get a head start on my future a little bit by learning about this stuff with professionals,” SDSU Senior Catie Natvig said.
This was the first year the conference included CORE: Career Opportunities in Real Estate, with the goal of helping to fill workforce needs, another pressing issue in all aspects of the housing industry.
