The price of a typical home has now shot up by €30,000 in the last year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Property prices increased by 7pc in the year to January, up from the 6.9pc recorded in the year to last December. The median price of a dwelling purchased in the year to January was €389,986.
At the very root of our affordability crisis is the high cost of housing. High rents and expensive homes are driving families and high-wage jobs out of California. Our housing crisis makes it harder to hire teachers, child care workers and law enforcement officers; and it is closely linked to our crisis of street homelessness.
Rhode Island is becoming a model for housing policy in other states. We've passed more than 60 new housing laws that are having real results. He cited a 70% increase in building permits in 2023, the largest since the Great Recession. He also noted that construction takes time. We are still trying to play catch-up for all the years that Rhode Island was dead last in the country for new housing starts.
