As Oswego keeps booming, village officials are looking at the results of a new housing study that offers recommendations to meet the needs of Oswego’s growing population.
“It is definitely an unusual time in Oswego because we are growing so fast,” Oswego Village President Ryan Kauffman said.
Usually when supply increases demand falls back in line. However, that is not happening in the village, he said.
“We seem to be in this almost semi-permanent disequilibrium where we cannot build fast enough. Supply is expanding very fast and yet demand is ramping up right along with it,” Kauffman said.
The demand for housing speaks volumes about Oswego, he said.
“Everybody wants to live in Oswego,” he said, adding becoming an Oswegoan has become a coveted title residents point to with pride. “It’s a great attribute for our community to have.”
Oswego has been in a growth mode for years. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village’s population was 30,355 in 2010. It grew to a population of 34,602 in 2020, according to the bureau’s figures, and increased by more than 2,400 residents to an estimated 37,074 in 2023.
Kauffman said the new housing study “helps to inform and guide our decisions with what we do with housing going forward.”
The study was conducted by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and Evanston-based BRicK Partners and included data and feedback from various focus groups.
The Illinois Housing Development Authority provided the funding for the project at no cost to the village, Oswego officials said.
Overall, the goal in Oswego is to create a “balanced and healthy housing stock,” consultants said.
Ben Schnelle, manager of housing initiatives for the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, presented a summary of the analysis to Village Board members recently, as well as recommendations offered by the study, called “Homes for a Changing Region.”
The first housing need identified in the study focused on senior citizens in Oswego, Schnelle said.
“Between 2012 and 2022, the number of seniors in Oswego more than doubled,” the consultant said.
While this is a trend happening in other communities, the growth in the number of seniors is happening at a “faster pace” in Oswego than in Kendall County and the Chicago region, Schnelle said.
Feedback from focus groups was an essential component of the study, he said.
“There are many in the community who are or will be looking for downsizing options,” Schnelle said.
In the community survey, one in four respondents said they do not believe their current home would meet their housing needs in the future, citing the need to possibly downsize or reduce homeownership costs, he said.
“For some, it is a matter of preference and for others it is driven by financial aspects or considerations,” Schnelle said.
Housing needs change as people go through life, the consultant said. Based on the feedback, one in three homeowners in Oswego are spending more than 30% of their monthly income on housing, Schnelle said.
Another need identified in the study focused on the homeownership market, specifically opportunities for first-time homebuyers in Oswego.
“It’s no surprise to anyone in the room that the housing market has been red hot over the past few years,” Schnelle said.
In 2012, the median home sale price in Oswego was about $170,000, he said.
“In 2022, the median home sale price in Oswego was about $345,000, more than three times the typical household income in Oswego and more than four times the typical income throughout the Chicago region,” he said.
Other areas of the study focused on the rental market and need to diversify the housing stock in Oswego.
The rental vacancy rate in Oswego, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, has decreased dramatically since 2012 and has been next to zero since about 2015, according to the study.
“In a healthy or typical rental market, the vacancy rate is about 5% to 8%. When it is much lower than that, it becomes extremely competitive for renters and it can contribute to price increases,” Schnell said. “We do acknowledge in the report this is not something that exists only in Oswego but in Kendall County.”
Having a wider choice of housing options is seen as being important in Oswego, according to the study.
“When it comes to diversifying the housing market, we noted it is not only responding to demand. It is also an opportunity to help people who work in Oswego find more options at their price point,” Schnelle said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.