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Taos Housing Partnership says affordability gap widened sharply; recommends housing trust fund and county-led development
Summary
Taos Housing Partnership presented a county market analysis showing a roughly 103% rise in home prices since 2015, steep rent increases and widespread cost burden, and urged Taos County to consider a housing trust fund, use county land for development and strengthen partnerships to expand affordable housing.
Taos Housing Partnership staff presented a market-and-needs analysis to the Taos County Commission showing a sharp affordability gap and recommending several county actions to address the problem.
"The affordability gap just continues to get bigger," housing consultant Carlos Gomorrah said, summarizing slides that the partnership delivered under contract with the county. Gomorrah cited a roughly 103% increase in home prices between 2015 and 2024 and said rents have risen about 40% over roughly a decade. He also noted that 30% of the county’s households are cost-burdened (paying more than 30% of income for housing), including 57% of renters.
Lisa O’Brien, executive director of the Taos Housing Partnership, told commissioners the organization is fully staffed and rolling out services including home-purchase counseling, financial-fitness classes and builder outreach. She suggested the county consider creating a housing trust fund, advancing development on roughly 10 acres of county-owned land, updating the land-development code and holding regular coordination meetings between county staff and the partnership to remove bottlenecks.
Commissioners asked practical questions about what the county can do immediately; staff suggested regular check-ins with county staff, targeted use of county land, and exploring funding and sequencing issues rather than relying on a single subsidy. Gomorrah emphasized that steering the market requires many levers, not a single program, and that building more lower-cost new homes is part of a long-term solution.
The partnership said the full report will be posted on its website and that a deeper community speaker series on July 22 will feature Gomorrah. County staff and commissioners agreed to continue the conversation on housing strategy at future meetings.
