DALLAS — Dallas has experienced a "dramatic decrease" in homes that are affordable for its residents, according to a presentation from consultants and city staff Monday.
The assessment from consultant group HR&A Advisors found the city has 40,000 too few homes that are affordable for households making $55,000 per year or less.
The HR&A presentation said Dallas did add new housing units since 2017 -- but most have been in larger apartment complexes with more than 50 units.
There are 100,000 fewer rental units available for $1,000 or less per month compared to 2017, the study said. By contrast, the number of units available for $1,500 or more has increased by 66,000.
Parts of the increase in affordability could be tied to inflation, HR&A representatives conceded at Monday's meeting of the Dallas Housing and Homelessness Committee.
However, the numbers show income has not kept up with housing costs and a Dallas household needs to make $100,000 a year to afford the typical home in the city -- and fewer than a fifth of renters make enough to do that, the presentation showed.
"We are, in fact, in a crisis. There are not enough affordable units to meet the demand," said Billy Lane, the executive director of ICDC, which works to build affordable housing in South Dallas and Fair Park. "Dallas is really not affordable to a lot of people."
ICDC is a member of the Dallas Housing Coalition, a group of nonprofit organizations which advocates for creating more "attainable" housing in Dallas and is supporting the Forward Dallas land use plan due to be voted upon by City Council Wednesday.
At Monday's meeting, several councilmembers expressed concerns with the completeness of the data included in the HR&A presentation -- and with the lack of options to address affordability.
"It’s an all hands on deck situation for our city at this point," said Councilmember Chad West. "I’m disappointed that it’s taken so long. I’m disappointed that it continues to just creep along a little bit at a time."
Others expressed concern that if housing continues to become unaffordable in the city, people will move out of Dallas.
"Where do they end up moving?" asked Councilmember Jesse Moreno. "Into our suburbs."