ST. PAUL, MN—State Representative Tama Theis (R-St. Cloud), Republican Lead on the Minnesota House Housing Finance and Policy Division, issued the following statement today regarding the Housing Affordabilty Institute’s new report: The True Cost of Minnesota’s Broken Housing Market:
“This report confirms what many of us have known for years: housing affordability in Minnesota is a major problem because of Minnesota's crushing regulatory climate. When a newly constructed home costs tens of thousands more in Minnesota than it does in Wisconsin, it’s clear we have a problem that needs a solution. Statistics show we are going to have a huge demand for new home construction in the coming decades, and we’re not going to meet that demand if we don’t address the regulatory issues that are crippling this industry and making home ownership unrealistic for too many Minnesota families.”
The report detailed numerous land and regulatory policies that are driving up costs for new home construction in Minnesota, resulting in homes costing tens of thousands more in Minnesota than in Wisconsin and other surrounding states. One example found that the same home in Lake Elmo, Minnesota costs $47,000 more than an identical home in Hudson, Wisconsin, just ten miles away.
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