Building More Homes for Minnesota Families

Building More Homes for Minnesota Families

The problem: There aren’t enough homes in Minnesota, and it’s driving up prices.

• Minnesota needs more than 100,000 additional homes to meet current demand. Too many families and neighbors are competing for too few homes, driving up housing costs and limiting opportunity across our state.
• The average age of first-time homebuyers has risen from 28-years-old in 1991 to 38 years old in 2025, according to the National Association of Realtors.
• Minnesota is already facing a workforce shortage, and the demographic trends around homeownership and family formation indicate it will get worse.

Part of the solution: Build more houses

At the end of the day, it is a supply issue, and Minnesota needs more homes. The Starter Homes Act (H.F. 3895 / S.F. 4123) would update outdated rules and make it easier to build more homes in more places across our state. Expanding housing supply will help young people stay in the neighborhoods where they grew up, help older adults downsize to homes that meet their needs, and allow more Minnesotans to live near jobs and opportunities. It proposes loosening restrictive exclusionary zoning laws, allowing accessory dwellings, reducing lot size requirements, and streamlining the approval process.

Read MCC’s written testimony on March 23 in support of the Starter Homes Act to the House Elections Finance and Government Operations Committee.

 

• housing
• families