The job is here, but what about a house?

Ben Vickers: Springfield doesn't have enough units on the market to meet demand.

Michelle Cantrell: Houses on the market are costly and take a long time to sell.

Meagen Duran: Mid-Missouri Bank offers a plan that discounts house closing costs.

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An increased cost of living and a lack of workforce housing in Springfield are creating hurdles for employee attraction and retention.

In Springfield Business Journal’s 2025 Economic Growth Series survey, 34.5% of local respondent employers said housing directly impacted their ability to recruit and retain talent. With 63% of businesses reporting home and rental prices have at least some impact on employment acceptance of a job, the data suggests accepting a job in Springfield often clashes with the dream of purchasing a home.

It comes down to an inventory problem, said Steve Childers, director of planning and development at the city of Springfield: “If we are going to be able to sustain our workforce and house our workforce and give housing options, we are going to have to increase our density. We are going to have to find a way to allow different things in our zoning code and increase the dwelling density in the city of Springfield.”

Specifically, those options need to be what Brendan Griesemer, executive director of Restore SGF, calls workforce housing. That’s distinct from affordable housing, which typically refers to low-income housing that is often subsidized by the government. Workforce housing, as Griesemer defines it, is “housing that our workforce in our employment sector needs to be able to live comfortably in Springfield.”

Workforce housing is considered affordable to those earning between 60%-120% of the area median income, such as teachers, first responders, health aides and service-sector employees, according to Childers. Griesemer said Restore SGF considers workforce wages to be between 81%-150%. Only approximately 1,600 homes citywide are priced within the 100%-150% range, approximately between $60,000 and $92,000.

Recruitment is the No. 1 concern Ben Vickers, manager of business development at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, hears from business owners, with housing playing an enormous role in both attraction and retention. There are plenty of apartments and executive housing in Springfield, he said, but not enough middle workforce housing such as townhomes, duplexes, four-plexes or accessory dwelling units.

“In a lot of ways, our housing is either too big or too small and what we hear is that we need housing for your average worker,” Vickers said. “This is just attainable housing that is affordable to the average resident of Springfield. We just don’t have enough units on the market in order to meet that demand.”

The houses that are available cost more and take longer to sell, said Michelle Cantrell, broker and owner of Cantrell Real Estate. According to Greater Springfield Board of Realtors data, Greene County homes in May sold at the median sales price of $295,208 after an average of 42 days on market. This is an approximately 3% increase in price from last year. According to Zillow data, 30-year fixed mortgage rates in Missouri sit at 6.83%. In March, Restore SGF listed its first flipped house for sale: a historic four-bedroom home at 1923 N. Campbell Ave. currently priced at $244,900 and still up for sale. The nonprofit’s second flip at, a smaller home at 1411 W. Central St., closed two weeks ago, listed online at nearly $146,000. Griesemer said Restore SGF is capping any of the homes it flips and sells at $250,000.

The nonprofit seeks more homes to flip; however, the tight market has made that a challenge – reflective of state and national issues.

“There’s kind of a wait and see attitude in the market right now with current events and so that has slowed down some of the leads that we’ve seen in housing projects,” Griesemer said.

Down payment dilemma
With the rising cost of housing, down payments are consistently one of the biggest barriers to getting through the door of a new home. Clients are increasingly seeking down payment assistance, said Meagen Duran, senior vice president of Mid-Missouri Bank and in-house lender for Cantrell Real Estate.

“They are researching it more for sure and, if they qualify for it, they want to use it,” she said. “They’re trying to get as little on the downpayment portion as possible.”

Restore SGF’s down payment assistance program provides $9,000 toward the total, which can range 0% to 20% of the total sales price depending on the type of mortgage a buyer uses. According to previous SBJ reporting and the 2024 Annual Report from Restore SGF, the 2024 down payment assistance program, provided through a grant from the city of Springfield, resulted in 50 grants totaling $438,000 and $7.2 million in total real estate development, with $14.57 leveraged for every dollar from Restore SGF. The city approved an additional $500,000 grant for 2025. Since those funds went through in May, two homes have already been closed with that funding assistance.

“With the rapid rise of housing prices, that’s really put a pinch on certain income levels in the city,” Griesemer said. “We’ve seen a huge need for the down payment assistance in communities, especially for workforce programs like this that are providing the ability for people who would not otherwise be able to get into homes. … Our health care workers used our down payment assistance program more than any other occupation.”

Because of the impact housing has on employee attraction and retention, some employers are exploring including financial support for home purchases in benefits packages. Mid-Missouri Bank offers an employer plan where employees who attain home loans through the bank are given $500 off closing costs. Currently 10 businesses are part of the plan, Duran said. Restore SGF also provides guidance for employers to offer down payment assistance benefits. While no companies have adopted the program yet, Griesemer said two are discussing it.

In the early 2000s, both Drury University and the city of Springfield offered down payment assistance to employees. Griesemer worked for the city at the time, helping to establish the program. He hopes to restart it in Springfield to meet the current housing needs. While the program is customized to fit each company, it generally entails an employer providing pro-rated down payment assistance in exchange for a typically five-year employment contract.

“We’re trying to dust off that idea and really promote it again because, for those companies either having trouble retaining or recruiting employees,” Griesemer said, “that could be another tool for them in their toolbox to keep a competitive advantage in their industry to find the right talent.”

Vickers said he has not personally encountered businesses interested in offering that benefit and suspects most will prefer instead supporting local organizations and nonprofits that do.

“It’s difficult for a business to get too far out of their lane, so it makes more sense to partner,” he said.

Expectation adjustments
In SBJ’s Economic Growth Series survey, 71% of respondent employees listed better wages/benefits as the top barrier to accepting or keeping a job. So, while down payment assistance is all well and good, it doesn’t matter if you can’t afford the monthly mortgage afterward – and that’s the position many Queen City residents find themselves in when it comes to the dream of homeownership. According to data from the city of Springfield, more than 19,800 total households, both renters and owners, “exceed the affordability threshold of 30% income spent on housing. Many of these are working households, which means affordability constraints directly affect financial stability and mobility.”

“You’re approved for a large sales price, and that payment really scares them,” Duran said. “The downpayment is fantastic, but if you can’t make that payment, it’s all for naught.”

Some homebuyers who were waiting for costs to “even out” are realizing the higher prices might be here to stay.

“People are realizing those rates are staying consistent and are probably not going to change,” Cantrell said. “They held off for a little while because of rates but are realizing this is the new normal. Prices are continuing to increase; they are not getting any cheaper.”

The solution is often to reduce expectations, Griesemer said. Where a three-bed, two-bath, two-car garage home was considered standard previously, more buyers are looking at something smaller.

Which loops back to the original problem: The missing middle of workforce housing.

While Vickers does not believe Springfield is in crisis mode yet, prevention is key and developers play a role in providing more middle-housing options to retain and attract the workforce needed in Springfield. However, developers are facing rising costs in materials, Childers noted, and that’s impacting overall pricing.

“It’s not just one thing, it’s literally a multitude of challenges that we are seeing right now,” Childers said. “It’s just harder to build more houses. It’s more expensive to build more houses, thus it’s putting it out of reach.”

Childers said the city has frequent discussions with developers, homeowner associations and other community stakeholders about bringing four-plex-style homes into existing neighborhoods to increase density and create more cluster developments that include multiple types of housing to meet every level of need. Childers said Springfield should make itself ready and available for this shift to remain relevant to workforce needs. The Department of Planning and Development is evaluating where new infrastructure could go, though there is no official decision made at this time.

“You have to bring all stakeholders to the room together and have conversations,” Childers said. “This is a cultural shift. You have to get out there and talk to people.”