For many Asheville-area families, homeownership feels increasingly out of reach. High prices, limited inventory, rising interest rates, and barriers to traditional financing have left even moderate-income households with relatively few viable options.

Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity works outside that conventional market by building homes, offering affordable financing, and helping existing homeowners make critical repairs. We spoke with Executive Director Andy Barnett about the challenges local families face and why he still finds hope in steady, incremental progress.

Q: How does Habitat create a path to homeownership when the conventional market falls short?

Habitat works outside the conventional market in several ways. We are the builder, so we add housing supply. We are also either the lender or work with banking partners to provide below-market mortgage rates. That allows us to address both sides of the equation. We create homes, and we make sure families who may not qualify for conventional mortgages have access to affordable financing.

Q: What kinds of partnerships are most important to Habitat’s work?

Partnerships are essential to nearly everything we do. We work with neighborhood associations so that when we build or redevelop within a community, the work reflects neighborhood priorities. Banking partners help us offer below-market financing rates, while individual donors, businesses, foundations, faith communities, and local governments provide critical support.

Habitat homeowners are partners, too. Their monthly mortgage payments help make affordable homeownership possible for the next family.

One partnership especially relevant to Housing Authority of the City of Asheville residents is the Homeownership Voucher Program. Habitat is one of the few local lenders that accepts homeownership vouchers. Each year, families use those vouchers to help pay the mortgage on a Habitat home. That creates a pathway from subsidized rental housing to homeownership. It helps families move toward their long-term housing goals while opening rental units for other people who need them.

Q: Why is homeownership important beyond providing a roof overhead?

Any safe, affordable housing can provide stability. Research shows that people tend to be healthier, children perform better in school, and adults are better able to succeed at work when their housing situation is stable.

Homeownership also offers other benefits. It can lock in a more predictable monthly housing cost, give people greater independence, and allow families to make a space truly their own. Most importantly, it provides an opportunity to build wealth. A home is an asset that generally appreciates over time, creating value that can benefit multiple generations.

That matters because many people have historically been excluded from homeownership and its wealth-building potential. A few years ago, Habitat commissioned a study of the more than 400 homes we had built locally over four decades. The research found that those homes had generated more than $70 million in equity, with approximately $35 million of that wealth created in Black households. Helping close the homeownership gap can also help close the racial wealth gap in our community.

Q: What local policy changes could help create and preserve more affordable homes?

Recent zoning changes that allow more types of housing in areas previously limited to single-family homes could be a positive step. At the same time, we have to recognize that much of the resulting development may occur in neighborhoods where property values are currently lower, so these are places where homeowners may be especially vulnerable to displacement.

As development increases, the city should dedicate a portion of the additional tax or permit revenue to anti-displacement programs. That could include funding towards home repair, eviction and foreclosure prevention, tenant education, and neighborhood placemaking. The goal should be to create more housing while helping current residents remain in the homes and communities they love.

We are also strong supporters of public investment in affordable housing. Local housing bonds have significantly increased the resources available for this work. They can help our community conserve the places that make this region special while developing affordable homes in locations where they will help people who live and work here remain here.

Q: After 30 years of working in housing, what gives you hope?

There is a way to look at the past 30 years and feel discouraged. I have seen promising ideas come and go, and there is no silver bullet that will solve the housing crisis. But there is another way to look at it. People keep showing up and putting their creativity into finding solutions. Every time we complete a repair or sell a home to a new buyer, we move one step closer. What gives me hope is seeing more people step up to do one small thing that moves us toward a community where everyone has a place to call home.