Housing

For first-time homebuyers it was one of the hardest years ever to afford a house. But homeowners saw tremendous gains in housing wealth.

As the cost of shelter goes up, some people are turning to alternative ways to afford the roof over their head. MPR News guest host Twila Dang talks with experts involved with land trusts and housing cooperatives and takes listener calls about creative ideas for alternatives to rising rents and mortgages. 

Some newly elected City Council members say more should be done to help end the conditions which cause the repeated creation and dismantling of the camps.

Rochester’s homeless are now facing below zero temperatures and vulnerability to omicron as it surges. Olmsted County and the Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota have implemented plans to isolate those who test positive.

Homeless advocates in Minnesota say there aren’t enough resources across the state to provide shelter for everyone who needs it. A recent Minneapolis march remembered those who died too young in 2021.

A cash offer on a home is hard to beat. It used to be that only wealthy people and investors had the money. But now some lenders are helping the rest of us do it too, even if you don't actually have the cash.

Investors and companies are swooping in to buy mobile home parks. They raise fees and rents, and evict people who can't pay — using billions of dollars worth of low interest, government-backed loans.

The city of St. Paul and Ramsey County want to spend $74.5 million to provide more housing options for people making 30 percent of the area median income, or about $31,500 a year for a family of four.

Rochester is expected to welcome 20 refugee families from Afghanistan by early next year — and some have already arrived in the region. But distant landlords and a chronic shortage of affordable housing in the city have made it hard for refugee families to find a place to live. 

Jennifer Folden-Nissen's three-bedroom house in Georgia isn't for sale. But that hasn't stopped a guy calling himself Henry from phoning her at least once a week. She says the pitch is always the same: "I want to buy your house. I'm willing to pay cash. Today."