Northampton County committee members raise concerns about housing affordability and signal intent to study options

Councilman Jeff Warren told the Northampton County Economic Development Committee he wants the panel to “begin embarking on gauging the housing crisis” affecting the county and discussed trends in prices, rentals and housing supply.

Warren said the county’s median home value reached approximately $342,600 as of March and that value had risen about 4.5% over the previous year; he also said properties were selling quickly, with an average time to contract of about 12 days. He added that Northampton County’s renter eviction rate ranks eighth in the Commonwealth.

Committee members discussed several possible avenues for response without adopting any formal proposals. Warren noted Montgomery County, Maryland’s comprehensive rent‑stabilization approach as an example under discussion. He also said the county administration is pursuing housing‑related initiatives including a roughly $20,000 CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) allocation for Evergreen Village and a $500,000 application for a home‑improvement program.

Another committee member cautioned about costs of government‑led new construction, citing a previously discussed Easton Housing Authority project that he estimated would cost roughly $780,000 to $800,000 per unit for 42–48 one‑bedroom units. The member said prevailing‑wage and procurement requirements can increase project costs and argued for focusing on renovating existing housing stock and incentivizing landlords or homeowners to improve units instead of building new high‑cost units.

Discussion covered tradeoffs of rent controls: several members expressed reluctance to cap rents because of concerns that government price controls could distort markets and create unintended consequences for landlords and tenants. Members also raised zoning and local control as constraints: altering zoning to accommodate denser or different housing types could require changes at municipal levels that some local governments may resist.

Warren said he plans to bring housing back to the committee for further study and to reach out to partners such as the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission and local housing stakeholders to gather ideas; no motions, votes or directives were made during the meeting.

The exchange was framed as an exploratory committee discussion rather than a policy decision; members asked for more information and signaled willingness to examine incentives for rehabilitation, zoning adjustments and coordination with regional partners.