Housing Availability and Affordability Challenges from Mark FreidlineJudi Funk
From: Mark Freidline <director@buildingflathead.com>
Sent: Friday, May 17, 2024 4:05 PM
To: Aimee Brunckhorst; Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Subject: EXTERNAL housing availability and affordability challenges
Attachments: FBA Letter of Acknowledgment 5-17-24.pdf
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Aimee,
I stopped over to see you this afternoon, but you were either gone or in a meeting. Please see the attached letter of
acknowledgment from the Flathead Building Association regarding the challenges of housing availability and
affordability in the Flathead Valley. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) just unveiled a 10-point
housing plan designed to tame shelter inflation and ease the housing affordability crisis by removing barriers that
hinder the construction of new homes and apartments. https://www.nahb.org/news-and-economics/press-
releases/2024/05/nahb-announces-a-10-point-plan-to-tame-shelter-inflation-ease-the-housing-affordability-
crisis. We are happy to partner with the City of Kalispell to address these challenges on a local level to benefit the
citizens of Kalispell and the Flathead Valley.
Take care!
Mark Freidline
Executive Officer, Flathead Building Association
Office: (406) 752-2422
Cell: (513) 330-2074
directorCo)buildingflathead.com
40 2nd St. East, Suite 202
Kalispell, MT 59901
--00�
FLATHEAD
BUILDING
Assuciuliun
May 17, 2024,
Dear Kalispell City Councilors,
FLATHEAD
BUILDING
Association
The Flathead Building Association is a non-profit membership organization with over 45 years of
experience dedicated to promoting professionalism, credibility, quality and vitality in the building
industry to the benefit of its members and citizens of Northwest Montana.
The FBA has over 250 members. Over 60 of the members are Builders/Remodelers and 190 are
Associate & Affiliate members representing sub -contractors and businesses related to the construction
industry, including major financial institutions and title companies. These businesses work together to
create a positive environment in support of the construction industry of the Flathead Valley.
We're writing to express our concern about the shortage of housing supply across Flathead Valley that
continues to lead to high housing costs. Just recently, with a nationwide shortage of roughly 1.5 million
housing units, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has called for attention to this issue,
unveiling a 10-point housing plan. In that effort NAHB Chairman said,
"The lack of homes is the primary cause ofgrowing housing affordability challenges. Any policy
that seeks to improve affordability without addressing the need to increase the supply ofsingle-
family and multifamily for -sale and for -rent housing is doomed to fail. "
This shortage echoes what we are seeing in the Flathead Valley. An economic study completed by the
University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research reported that an additional supply of
1,500 homes per year must be added over the next 10 years to rebuild housing inventory and provide
competitive prices in the Flathead.
We know these staggering numbers reflect the real -life experiences of so many families in the Flathead
Valley who are unable to find housing, which is why we encourage the City Council to be proactive in
addressing this crisis.
We are committed to doing our part to help boost housing production to meet the needs of the Flathead
Valley and make homeownership and renting more affordable. But as the NAHB has pointed out - we
cannot do it alone. We must recognize the importance of boosting housing supply and implement
practical solutions, like increasing density and allowing more flexibility for developers, to address this
challenge.
We support opportunities to increase housing supply, especially those that will increase homeownership
opportunities for middle -income families in the Flathead Valley.
Sincerely,
Mark Freidline
Executive Officer