Housing Incentives at the State and Local Level

Experts identify housing affordability as the No. 1 impediment to economic growth in northern Michigan

By Ren Brabenec | April 4, 2026

According to the United States Census Bureau, the 2026 median household income in Michigan’s 1st Congressional District is around $64,000, a slight uptick from $56,000 in 2018. A $64,000 income supports a home price of about $200,000-$250,000, depending on one’s debt-to-income ratio and other factors.

Income may have inched up in northern Michigan over the past eight years, but even those modest income gains are deceptive, because inflation has increased faster than wages. Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, though the median income is now $64,000, one would actually have to make $73,483 in 2026 to afford the same goods and services that $56,000 bought in 2018.

Amid declining purchasing power, home prices have skyrocketed. According to Northern Great Lakes Realtors, the median price for a home in northern Michigan hovered around $200,000-$270,000 in 2018. Today, even rural “starter” homes fetch $300,000, and the median price of a home in Grand Traverse County is $396,750.

Given that grim landscape, we decided to check in with local and state experts to find out what’s being done to make northern Michigan housing more affordable.

The MI Home Loan Program

At the state level, some of the most important work to increase homeownership access is being done at the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), specifically in the Homeownership Division.

For over 30 years, Michigan has maintained the MI Home Loan Program, a state-managed suite of products available to first-time home buyers and some repeat buyers in targeted areas. The program exists to provide low- to moderate-income households with down payment and closing cost assistance and competitive mortgage rates.

“We’re continuously evaluating our programs and products to meet the needs of communities across the state, including the many rural communities Michiganders call home,” says Tonya Coon, director of the Homeownership Division. “Through our acreage limit expansion and sales price limit increase, we added more flexibility and opportunities for homebuyers in areas like northwest Michigan. Being able to put down roots in a community you love, with an affordable, quality place to call home, shouldn’t be out of reach…”

Coon explains how, when buyers work with the MI Home Loan Program, the State of Michigan serves as the end investor in loans facilitated by qualified lenders statewide. Because of the state’s involvement, the program can offer benefits such as $10,000 in downpayment assistance (repayable during refinance or when the property is sold) and mortgage rates that can be 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent lower than private-market rates.

“The goal is to help people who otherwise would not have the financial means or on-paper qualifications to secure a home loan,” Coon says. “Our current goal is to help someone in every Michigan county, and we’ve currently helped people secure homeownership in 80 out of 83 counties. Last year we helped around 6,000 people become homebuyers with loans funded to the tune of $1 billion. That’s the most people we’ve helped in our agency’s 59 year history.”

Coon attributes the recent, widespread implementation of the program to Michigan legislators working with program managers and the governor to make changes that fit the times.

For example, legislation from 2009 had set a flat-rate cap on the program and limited applicants to homes priced up to $224,500. Now the allowed purchase price is tied to a fluctuating index, keeping MI Home Loan competitive with private lenders.

The program has also been updated to cover single-wide manufactured homes and to increase the acreage limit from two acres to five.

Learn more about eligibility, housing education, and more at michigan.gov/mshda/pathway-to-housing/mi-home-loan.

The “Make Your Home in Northwest Michigan” Program

At the local level, Traverse Connect, the area’s lead economic development organization, is also working to improve housing affordability.

“The Grand Traverse region has proven successful in attracting working-age people. We are a bright spot for the state,” says Warren Call, president and CEO. “As we move through the 2026 election and into next year with a new governor, new state house, and senate leadership, there’s an opportunity to develop state-level policy that incorporates and supports our momentum. The Grand Traverse region can serve as a model for how the state overall can improve talent retention, attraction, and development.”

Call, who was joined in our discussion by Communications & Strategic Projects Manager Abby Baudry, explains how making housing more affordable is essential to attracting out-of-region talent and to ensuring young people who grow up in northwest Michigan can afford to live and work here when they graduate.

“Attracting talent to this region and ensuring local talent can afford to stay local is essential to economic growth,” Call says.

Enter Traverse Connect’s Make Your Home in Northwest Michigan program. Funded in part by the state’s Make MI Home program and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), the initiative helps professionals relocating to or already working in the region put down roots.

The program selected 10 recipients from 539 applicants to receive $5,000 in cash housing assistance. The applicants had to have either secured a local job offer or had to already be employed by local employers. In addition to the cash award, recipients received $1,500 in in-kind benefits including admission to local networking events and passes to arts and cultural experiences.

The program was a success, says Baudry, thanks in part to Traverse Connect’s efforts to put northwest Michigan on the map as more than a tourist destination.

“The world knows a lot more about this area now,” Baudry says. “We use marketing tools to garner interest in northwest Michigan, then we create connective opportunities to introduce employees to employers. Once we’ve proven there’s interest in economic activity in the region, we put together programs that, with the help of the state and other partnerships, make it financially more feasible for folks to move-slash-stay here.”

Traverse Connect is looking to expand the program in the future and use it as a model.

“We constantly hear from employees and employers that housing is the number one barrier to economic development,” Call says. “So we’re showing a real proof of concept that when you simply make it easier for individuals to secure housing, you attract talented folks to the region, they add value to the workforce, and our region benefits from increased economic activity.”

Hear It from the Beneficiaries

What do housing affordability efforts look like on the implementation side? We asked Traverse Connect to share brief feedback from two Make Your Home in Northwest Michigan program recipients, introduced to us as Anna P. and Mike S.

“This program has made my move to Northern Michigan everything and more,” Anna writes. “Less financial stressors, opportunities to broaden my network, [these] have been crucial to my transition. I’ve enjoyed my move more than anticipated due to the people and beautiful place that TC is.”

Mike says that the Make Your Home in Northwest Michigan program was essential in making his move to the region possible. “We couldn’t have moved up here otherwise without either accumulating debt or otherwise playing financial catch-up for months if not years.”