Allentown Housing Authority lists vacant homes below market value for low-income buyers
Updated
Updated · The Morning Call · May 1
Allentown Housing Authority lists vacant homes below market value for low-income buyers
3 articles · Updated · The Morning Call · May 1
A three-bedroom Gordon Street house is listed at $175,000, below Allentown's $255,000 median March sale price, and executive director Julio Guridy said at least three more homes will follow this year.
The scattered sites homeownership programme rehabilitates long-vacant properties and sells them to first-time buyers earning under 80% of area median income, with possible low-interest soft mortgages for some applicants.
The authority bought the Gordon Street home for $5,000 in 1981, sold two homes through the programme about two years ago, and says it still owns at least a dozen vacant houses citywide.
With a housing deficit in the thousands, can selling a few homes solve Allentown’s crisis without displacing current residents?
Beyond the sale, what ensures new owners can afford long-term upkeep and successfully build generational wealth?