News & Updates
Housing Forward | Region G
Regional Housing Partnership
What's Happening in Housing Across
Region G
Housing work doesn’t stop between meetings. Projects move forward. Policies change. Communities make decisions that shape what gets built, and for whom. This is where we keep you connected to all of it.
Follow along for regional housing news, partnership updates, policy developments from Lansing, stories from across our eight counties, and progress reports on the work Housing Forward and our partners are doing on the ground. When something matters for housing in Arenac, Bay, Clare, Gladwin, Gratiot, Isabella, Midland, or Saginaw County — you will find it here first.
Midland’s rental housing market is nearly full. According to the Community Overview & Housing Market Summary, a study released in 2025 by Bowen National Research, 23 apartment properties in the city of Midland were surveyed, totaling 2,456 units, and just 74 sit vacant — an overall occupancy rate of 97%, leaving renters with few options.
The Affordable Housing Alliance of Midland County (AHA) is responding with Home Starts Here, a campaign supporting an approximately $45 million initiative to rehabilitate 69 existing affordable rental units and build new multi-unit complexes on three AHA properties.
Community gifts made before Nov. 20 can go twice as far. The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation has committed $2.5 million to Home Starts Here, with $2 million directly to the project and up to $500,000 in matching funds. Every charitable donation to the campaign through Nov. 20 will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $500,000.
Structural Demand Is Outpacing Housing Supply: What the Latest NAHB Data Means for Midland, Bay, and Saginaw Counties
A new National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) analysis, Structural Demand Outpacing Supply: Jobs-to-Permits Ratios Highlight Housing Gap, measures how well home building is keeping up with job growth across U.S. markets. The metric compares net new jobs created in 2024 against housing permits issued in 2023, the typical lag for a permitted home to reach the market. Nationally, the economy added about 1.2 jobs for every housing unit permitted, and a tighter 1.84 jobs for every single-family permit, a sign that construction is not keeping pace with demand and continues to push home prices and affordability pressures higher.
For the Great Lakes Bay Region, the picture is uneven. Midland stands out with a jobs-to-total-permits ratio of 4.8 and a jobs-to-single-family-permits ratio of 7.4, well above the national average. That signals strong employment growth relative to new housing, pointing to a local housing supply gap that can strain affordability and inventory. Saginaw sits at 0 on both measures, indicating flat job growth relative to permitting. Bay City registers -2 for total permits and -3 for single-family, reflecting softer employment where permitting outpaced new jobs.
The takeaway: Midland’s job momentum is outrunning its housing pipeline, while Saginaw and Bay City face weaker labor demand. Sustained home building, especially single-family construction, will be key to closing the region’s housing gap.