$5,000 study examines Branson housing shortage

The Taney County office of Ozarks Area Community Action Corp. has commissioned a study by the Gill Group of Dexter to shed some light on housing availability in the Branson area.

The study

The study began March 23 and a completion date has not yet been determined. The $5,000 tab is being picked up by the Taney County Commission and the city of Branson.

More than 50 percent of Branson’s work force lives outside of the city, said Jerry Adams, Branson’s public information director, with the biggest reason being a lack of affordable housing.

“The city makes its money on commercial development. That’s why Branson has been so successful. But we realized there was a need for affordable housing for the work force,” Adams said of the Branson Board of Aldermen’s Feb. 28 decision to contribute $2,000 toward the study.

Patty Van Weelden, director of the housing direction program at OACAC’s Springfield office, is concerned that the latest Branson boom will add to the housing crunch.

“When you look at Branson Landing and the creation of new jobs, many of which will be low-paying jobs, where will they live?” Van Weelden said.

Van Weelden hopes the study will provide insight on the housing market, how it relates to the job market, what types of housing are needed and in what price range, and an analysis of the population in terms of who makes up the work force, who commutes and who would like to live closer to jobs.

Armed with this data, OACAC might apply for grants and other funding to assist workers in need of rental housing.

“Information that we could gather knowing there was a need was not

enough. We needed a professional, objective study done,” said Myrna Carlson, supervisor for the Taney County OACAC Neighborhood Center, adding that she won’t know specific grants or other funding OACAC might apply for until the study is complete.

The study’s results also may help developers build homes to sell that qualify for low-income tax credit programs.

Many programs, Van Weelden said, require renters or buyers to earn 50 percent or less of the median income for the area.

“Fifty percent of the median income for Taney County for a two-person household is $18,400, and for a family of four it’s $23,000,” she said.

The need

Most OACAC clients just want to find a place to rent that is safe and affordable for their families.

Carlson said the Taney County OACAC office’s waiting list for Section 8 housing is now three years long, with more than 300 families waiting. The Section 8 program is assisting 53 families.

“We want (houses) to be affordable so people can afford them from their salary, not that they need a housing voucher to make ends meet. That’s our goal, that they’ll be able to afford them from their wages,” Carlson said, adding that it’s too soon to know how many apartment units of various sizes might be needed.

For Branson workers who would like to become homeowners, Adams said that homes in the $75,000 to $100,000 price range would be considered affordable, a sentiment echoed by Branson Realtor Ken Coleman, co-owner and broker for Coleman & Co., who put the price of affordable housing in the $80,000 to $150,000 range.

The problem: Branson lacks housing in that price range.

Sue Rantz, president of Tri-Lakes Board of Realtors, said that three-bedroom, two-bath homes are in demand. There are now 308 three- to five-bedroom listings in Taney County’s Multilist service, with average sale prices of $150,000 to $175,000.

“We’re selling homes up to $400,000 or $500,000. Not many, but then under $100,000 there aren’t many,” Rantz said, adding that she agrees there is a shortage of affordable housing.

Rantz added that in 2004, 516 homes and 244 condominiums were sold in Taney County. Through April 2005, 177 homes and 85 condominiums have sold.

An epidemic

Coleman called the lack of affordable housing in the Branson area an epidemic.

“When Branson grew in leaps and bounds before, it wasn’t ready based on infrastructure of sewers and water, and it slowed down and stagnated growth,” he said. “This time it won’t be sewer and water. It will be housing.”

Coleman shows clients property in the surrounding area, beginning with Forsyth, Hollister and Reeds Spring, when their needs aren’t met in Branson.

Much of what’s being built in Branson now is condominiums, which Coleman said would help to fill the void only temporarily.

“Whenever you’re trying to raise a family, and there’s people on all sides of you that are vacationers, staying up all hours of the night, it’s not very conducive to a permanent, residential home,” he said.

Affordable land

Adams said finding land to build on is a problem.

“We can’t find enough flat land on which to build a subdivision in Branson. Branson’s topography is so hilly that you can’t find 20 or 25 acres on which to build a subdivision like you can in many other cities,” Adams said.

Coleman said it’s difficult to find lots within the Branson school system for less than $30,000.

“You can hardly buy land in Taney County for less than $10,000 an acre. By the time you pay $10,000 an acre and cut through the rock to put in infrastructure, you’re looking right at cost, with no profit to the builder, at about $30,000 a lot, and that’s too much money,” Coleman said.

Much of the residential property within Branson was gained through annexation.

“The city has annexed residential areas to the southwest, around Fall Creek, just south of Pointe Royale, down Highway 165 toward the Chateau,” Adams said, adding that more than four square miles have been annexed since 1999, bringing the area within Branson’s city limits to more than 18 square miles.