Support for Affordable Housing Quantified

If new neighborhoods do not hurt property values, contribute to overcrowding or make traffic any worse, people are more likely to support affordable housing in their own backyards, the third annual National Housing Opportunity Pulse survey found."The survey sheds new light on the conditions that encourage people to support affordable housing," said Pat Vredevoogd, the first vice president of the National Association of Realtors, which sponsors the study. NAR's hope is that the research will serve as a guide to local officials and gives them "the political will to do what people want," said Ms. Vredevoogd, who is a working broker-agent in Grand Rapids, Mich. Eight out of ten of the 1,600 people queried for the survey said the lack of affordable rental and for-sale properties was a major concern.