Purpose
In 2022, the North Central PA Regional Planning and Development Commission conducted a Housing Needs Assessment and Market Strategy for North Central Pennsylvania with the consulting firm Fourth Economy. The purpose of the assessment was to:
• Document existing regional housing conditions.
• Identify market and other forces affecting housing supply—now and in the future.
• Identify gaps in maintaining reliable housing for all.
• Identify opportunities for improving and expanding housing options to meet the region’s needs.
Key Findings
The Housing Assessment found that “the current makeup of housing in North Central Pennsylvania does not match the needs of the people who are living in or are considering moving to the region.” Specifically—
• The current regional housing stock is quite large (and quite old) with many (including younger families and older adults) seeking smaller and lower-maintenance homes.
• A lack of rental housing in the region may be increasing the price of single-family homes.
• A declining population combined with an aging housing stock indicates a need for forward-looking rehab and blight remediation efforts.
• A surplus of lower-value housing and a lack of higher-value housing may be driving competition with lower-income residents (whereby higher-income residents are living below their means and outpricing lower-income residents) and increasing the overall price of housing stock in the region.
Recommendations
Based on the above findings, the Needs Assessment identified five focus areas for regional housing actions:
Focus on the rehabilitation and renovation of older properties for year-round housing, as well as short-term and long-term rentals.
Remediate blight, abandoned property, and vacancy to enable infill development.
Enable new construction of affordable and market-rate housing (especially smaller units like ranch homes, town-homes, multi-unit apartments, and condos).
Regulate and encourage high-quality seasonal housing.
Create a regional housing consortium to disseminate information about funding resources and facilitate networking among the counties.
Interactive Strategies Database
The following interactive database showcases strategies to address local and regional housing challenges. Strategies were adopted from the recommendations of the Housing Needs Assessment, alongside other strategies collected from secondary research and emerging practices. Although non-comprehensive, this list is designed to help you consider options that may be relevant to your communities! Check out resources for these strategies in the resource hub.
Full North Central PA Regional Housing Needs Assessment
View and download the full North Central Regional Housing Needs Assessment below.