While the population of the state of New York has declined for many years now, the population of Suffolk County has continued to increase.  The Suffolk County Annual Comprehensive Financial report for 2022 (https://www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Portals/2/documents/2022%20ACFR%20FINAL-PRINT%20VERSION-8-21-2023.pdf ) noted that the  “County’s population growth is expected to increase from 2022 through 2030 by approximately .6%”, and the 2020-2021 year on year number was 2.1%. 

On top of this, the average family size over time has declined from just under 4 to close to 3 people, which means we would need 25% more homes than we did 20 years ago even without a population increase.

We have not been building homes at anywhere near this rate, so that the pent-up demand exceeds the supply, which is why housing prices have skyrocketed at a much faster rate than wages have increased, Huntington’s population is approximately 200,000, which means that we will need more homes for somewhere between 1200 and 4000 more people on the low end, on top of the backlog for the homes we have not been building in the past.

People who rent are especially hard hit, with 56% of renters paying more than 30% of their income on rents, which is a standard gauge of affordability.