Nebraska Does Not Just Need More Housing. Nebraska Needs More Homes People Can Own.

For generations, Nebraska has sold something valuable:

The Good Life.

A stable place to raise a family. Good schools. Good jobs. Communities where ordinary people could work hard, buy a home, build equity and create something to pass on to the next generation.

One of the most important pieces of that promise homeownership is becoming increasingly difficult to reach.

A recent Flatwater Free Press story, reprinted in the Omaha World-Herald, lays out just how dramatically the numbers have changed.

From 1970 to 2024, Nebraska's median household income, adjusted for inflation, increased approximately 40%. During that same period, the median home price more than doubled.

Between 2020 and 2024, household incomes in Nebraska barely moved while home prices jumped roughly 20%. According to the report, home prices grew 72 times faster than incomes during those four years.

That should concern every REALTOR®, builder, developer, employer and elected official in Nebraska, because this is not simply a housing problem. It is a homeownership problem.

Everyone Agrees We Need More Housing

Here is what I find fascinating: the federal government knows it, the State of Nebraska knows it, and the City of Omaha knows it.

In July, the federal 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law. Its stated purpose is to increase the supply of housing in America, with provisions aimed at reducing regulatory barriers, encouraging construction and expanding housing opportunities.

Nebraska is tackling the issue from several directions. NIFA's Welcome Home program provides mortgage options for both first-time and repeat homebuyers, while Welcome Home Assistance helps qualified buyers with down-payment and closing costs. Beginning January 1, 2027, Nebraska will also offer First-Time Homebuyer Savings Accounts, allowing eligible residents to receive state tax advantages while saving toward down payments, closing costs and other qualifying home-purchase expenses.

This year, Nebraska also passed LB 1114, creating Community Improvement Districts that can finance infrastructure for new development rather than requiring every dollar of those costs to be loaded into a lot price upfront. At the bill-signing event in Blair, state officials highlighted a planned 137-home development where the tool is intended to help reduce the cost of bringing homes to market.

Nebraska is catching on to the the problem...and financing only helps if there is a house available to purchase.

Omaha Is Making Decisions Now That Will Shape the Next Twenty Years

The City of Omaha is currently developing its new comprehensive plan through an initiative called We Make Omaha. This is significant. Omaha's existing master plan dates back to 1997. The new comprehensive plan is intended to guide the city's growth and development for approximately the next twenty years, including the policies that influence land use, housing, transportation and future development.

This plan will determine where Omaha builds, what it builds, how densely it builds, and ultimately, what kind of housing choices future Omahans will have.

These decisions are being made now, which means the question we ask matters adn to ME that qusetion the only question OUGHT to be, "How many opportunities for homeownership are we creating?"

Apartments Do Not Build Homeowner Equity.

Rental housing is essential. People relocate. Young people leave home. Families transition. Seniors downsize. Some individuals simply prefer not to own. A healthy city needs rentals and it needs a ladder for those who want to be home owners..

I am concerned that when valuable developable land becomes available in Douglas and Sarpy Counties, the economics frequently make another large multifamily development the obvious choice. The highest financial use of a parcel for a developer is not necessarily the same as the highest long-term value that parcel could create for the community.

Density can mean townhomes people own, condominiums, duplexes, triplexes and four-plexes, small-lot single-family homes, cottage developments, accessory dwelling units, infill housing, and modular or manufactured housing. NOT ANOTHER quarter-acre suburban lot with a 300-unit apartment complex.

Where Did the Starter Home Go?

There used to be a legitimate first rung on the homeownership ladder. You bought the modest house. Perhaps the kitchen was dated, or the bathroom had not been updated in decades. There was plenty you would eventually want to change...but it was yours.

You invested in it gradually; fresh paint, renovated bathrooms, landscape,  new windows WHATEVER and in doing so, you accumulated equity. Within five or ten years, that equity became the foundation for your next purchase.

Today, new construction around $350,000 is often referred to as starter housing in parts of Nebraska, while many first-time buyers are realistically shopping between $200,000 and $250,000. Homes in that range are scarce enough that buyers can quickly find themselves competing for one when it appears...competing against flippers, wholesalers, cash buyers, investors, or institutional buyers...

The desire to own a home has not disappeared. The first rung of the ladder has simply become much harder to reach.

This Is Why We Make Omaha Matters

If Omaha is rewriting the playbook that will guide development for the next two decades, attainable homeownership deserves a seat at the table.

Discuss density, walkability, public transportation and of course we cannot do this in Omaha withoug talking about the streetcar, oh wait that was me being a jackass (I am pro street car so we are all clear) Discuss infill, infrastructure and responsible growth...AND OWNERSHIP.

When a major development is approved, should success be measured only by how many units were added? Or by how many families gained a realistic pathway to ownership and equity?

Because Nebraska Is Trying to Keep Young People Here

We talk constantly about attracting and retaining young professionals: teachers, nurses, tradespeople, police officers, firefighters, entrepreneurs and young families. Employers need them. Nebraska needs them.

Eventually, they will ask a reasonable question: Can I build a life here? Increasingly, part of that question is: Can I ever afford to own something here? AS A PROFESSIONAL REALTOR THIS IS WHAT I HEAR ALL OF THE TIME.

The Flatwater report points to Nebraska communities where employers already have jobs available but struggle to find enough housing for the people needed to fill them. Housing policy is economic-development policy. Homeownership is wealth-building policy.

So Yes — Build

Build apartments. Build rental housing. Build senior housing. Build workforce housing. Build vertically where it makes sense...let us also make certain we are building something people can own.

The federal government is addressing supply. Nebraska is helping buyers save, finance purchases and reduce certain development costs. And Omaha is currently writing We Make Omaha, the comprehensive plan that will help determine how the city grows for the next generation.

The question is not simply, how many Nebraskans can we house?

It is also, how many Nebraskans can we help build wealth?

The Good Life should not simply mean having somewhere to live. It should still include the opportunity to own a piece of it.

Thursday check out the blog unpacking this new account and what I discover! 

Angela Peters | The Home Girl, Keeping it...real estate                                                                                                                                                 402.215.1529 | angela@thehomegirlne.com. | NE 20110578 IA S73434000                                                                                                              REALTOR® Realty ONE Group Sterling