A member of President Trump’s Cabinet visited our area.
U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner toured lofts in Bethlehem Wednesday.
69 News Reporter Jack Reinhard spoke with him in an exclusive interview. He has a preview of part two of his conversation.
Turner, who is also a former NFL player, toured the Brinker Lofts in Bethlehem. It’s a first-of-its-kind project in an Opportunity Zone in Pennsylvania.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner speaks exclusively with 69 News during Bethlehem visit
Opportunity Zones are economically distressed communities as defined by the U.S. Census. They’re nominated by governors and certified by the Treasury.
Investments in these areas may be eligible for tax incentives.
We spoke with Secretary Turner exclusively about his visit and a number of other topics, including home inventory.
Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors shows there’s currently a one-month inventory in our area. We asked Turner what can be done on the federal level to improve this in such a rapidly growing region like the Lehigh Valley.
“The final price of a single-family home. Let’s say it’s $300,000. Right now, about $100,000 of that is in regulation. So, if you take that down you bring the price down to build, whereabout you increase the supply and you bring the cost down for buyers to buy,” Turner said.
“Number one: you got to take the regulatory down, increase the supply.”
Secretary Turner says bringing regulations down would also drive down the median home sales price.
He tells us right now, the average first-time home buyer in the U.S. is 40 years old, something he tells us is unacceptable.