Housing Needs and Market Analysis

Special Joint Meeting - June 29

A special thank you to city and county commissioners, city councilmembers, and officials from area planning commissions for your participation in the special joint meeting to discuss the housing needs and strategies report! A recording of this meeting is below.

 

Special Joint Meeting Report Overview

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Housing Needs Analysis Surveys Now Closed

Thank you to everyone who participated in the housing needs community survey and the employer survey! Your feedback in both of these surveys will help us better understand housing needs in the FM area and ensure that study recommendations support housing decisions in communities throughout Cass and Clay counties.

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Background Information

The Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area population has grown nearly 18 percent since 2010, from approximately 209,000 to over 246,000. Current population projections show the region reaching a population of 357,000 by 2050, an increase of nearly 44,000 households over a thirty-year period. These projected growth levels, combined with the initiation of the FM Diversion, the recent groundbreaking on the Career Workforce Academy, and the continued growth of the metropolitan area as a medical, agricultural, educational, technical, cultural, and transportation have resulted in concerns about the housing market and the extent to which the region is currently meeting the needs of its current and future workforce.

Local leaders are interested in how today's demographics impact the housing market as a whole, to what extent current policies and laws are affecting housing development, and changes that may need to be implemented to meet the housing needs of the growing metropolitan area in the future.

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Project Objective

To ensure the long-term sustainability of the area's housing, Metro COG, in partnership with Cass County, Clay County, and local municipalities, is studying the FM area's housing market and analyzing the existing housing supply and current production in the region.

This study is collecting data and examining the housing needs and demands of the region in conjunction with a market analysis for both near-term and 10-year forecasts. In addition, the scope of the study includes case studies that will demonstrate how to successfully implement different housing types that may be needed and desired. Local leaders, planning departments, and community development officials will use this study to assist with decision-making around housing needs and to improve the overall quality of the regional housing market.

The study area includes the Cass County and Clay County Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), with a primary focus on the cities of Dilworth, Fargo, Horace, Moorhead, and West Fargo. In addition, the study aims to provide recommendations to growing communities in surrounding areas such as Barnesville, Glyndon, and Hawley in Minnesota; and Argusville, Casselton, Harwood, Kindred, Mapleton, and Reile's Acres in North Dakota.