On a recent Monday night, about 15 students at Coconino Community College in Flagstaff pieced together giant wooden frames using nail drivers, hammers and saws. These tall fitted frames are among the first steps toward what will become small starter homes in Flagstaff.
College student Carrie Oakason was helping to build wall panels.
She says she can identify with the need people have for homes in this city.
"And especially if you live here as long as I have, I was even an undergrad at NAU here so I’ve been here over 25 years, and I’ve seen what the housing market has done and how difficult it is for people to move into the community and get started professionally here. And this is a really exciting opportunity to get people started," she said.
For many years, Flagstaff faced many of the same challenges most of Arizona’s largest cities have been facing since the pandemic began. Too few homes going for unreachable prices that are constantly climbing. Coldwell Banker estimates the median price in Flagstaff is $800,000. Zillow estimatesprices have gone up 34% compared to a year ago.
Ken Myers teaches construction at the community college.
"Growing up, this town has always had the reputation of poverty with a view. We have one of the most amazing views in the entire state of Arizona looking at the San Francisco Peaks, but it does come at a cost," he said.
In what’s perhaps a strong sign of the tough real estate landscape, Habitat for Humanity in Flagstaff started a new program here, providing starter homes built by Myers’ class on city property. These are 400-square-foot homes designed for a couple and a child. They’re sold for $100,000 to a qualifying family.
Habitat for Humanity of Northern Arizona’s Executive Director Eric Wolverton met me at the empty lot along a busy street.
"One-thousand dollars, that’s their down payment?" I asked him.
"That’s their down payment. You just bought a house in Flagstaff," Wolverton said.
There are some thresholds to qualify: Household income must be less than 80% of the average median income, and families have to show a housing need, whether their current home is insufficient or they just can’t afford their rent.
The program then takes their monthly payment and banks it away.
"We do that on purpose so that way when the family has outgrown their home and move out and sell their home back to Habitat, and we give them every penny they invested in that home back to them," he said.
There’s just an $833 a month principal payment, no interest. So at a savings rate of a little bit more than 800 a month, a family would receive $10,000 for every year they lived in the home. Wolverton says Habitat hasn’t started considering families but when it does ... "We’re kind of scared. How many thousands of individuals or families want to buy these homes? We think it’s going to be in the thousands," Wolverton said.
Kim Murdza, president of the organization's board of directors in northern Arizona, told the Arizona Daily Sun there's a new need for Habitat's project in Flagstaff.
The organization expects Myers’ class to erect the frame for the first of these starter homes in May and then put the next home up next spring.
This spot on Butler Avenue is busy and small. It’s essentially a pile of dirt that was shoveled to the side to expand the road. Habitat intends to build partnerships with other organizations that want to keep the land but put it to use in this landlocked city where space is at a premium.
"We have great interest even with other cities outside Flagstaff that are struggling on recruiting the basic needs whether it’s teachers with the staff to run the schools," Wolverton said.
The goal, he says, is to shift away from building a home for one family. Instead, making one home available for several.
