Lawrence County is facing an unprecedented housing crisis. Both out-of-state and local investors, corporations, and businesses are buying up single-family homes at an alarming rate, leaving local families unable to buy homes of their own. This is no longer just a "housing market issue"—it is a direct threat to homeownership and community stability.

📢 The Data is Clear (Based on County Sales Data from 2015 - 2024:
✅ 98.37% of investor-owned single-family homes NEVER return to local buyers.
✅ 351,937 single-family homes (74.51% of all transactions) were taken over by investors and never resold to individuals.
✅ Only 1.63% of single-family properties made it back to local buyers.
✅ Median single-family home prices skyrocketed 133% in one year, making homeownership impossible for many.
✅ Housing inventory of single-family homes has declined for 5+ months, meaning fewer homes are available for purchase.
✅ Single-family homes are selling 50 days faster than last year, proving that supply is shrinking rapidly.
✅ Flipping is NOT the issue—only 1.19% of single-family homes were flipped. Investors are hoarding, not selling.

📉 The Trend is Getting Worse:

Over the past year, investor ownership has continued increasing, further reducing available homes for purchase.
Home prices are rising faster than local wages, making it even harder for young families to buy.
If action is not taken now, Lawrence County risks becoming a permanent rental market, dominated by investor landlords.
📢 What We Demand:
To stop this investor-driven takeover of our single-family housing market, we demand that the Lawrence County Commissioners take immediate action by implementing policies that prioritize homeownership for local residents:

1️⃣ "First Look" Policy for Local Buyers – Require single-family homes to be listed exclusively for local buyers for 30-90 days before investors can bid.
2️⃣ Higher Property Taxes on Investor-Owned Single-Family Homes – Make it too costly for corporations and large-scale investors—whether local or out-of-state—to hoard homes instead of selling them back to individuals.
3️⃣ Limit Bulk Homeownership & Hoarding – Place a cap on the number of single-family homes any investor or business can own in Lawrence County to prevent monopolization.
4️⃣ Create a Local Homeownership Fund – Use increased investor taxes to help local first-time buyers compete with investor cash offers.
5️⃣ Increase Transparency & Accountability for Corporate Buyers – Require all investors—local or out-of-state—to disclose real estate holdings to prevent anonymous entities from controlling the housing market.
6️⃣ Restrict Large-Scale Purchases of Foreclosed Single-Family Homes – Ensure that foreclosed single-family homes are offered to local residents first before being sold to businesses.

📢 Sign & Share to Demand Action
Every day we wait, more single-family homes are lost to investors, and fewer families get the opportunity to own a home in their own community. We demand that the Lawrence County Commissioners take immediate action to restore fair housing opportunities!

📢 Sign the petition and stand up for homeownership in Lawrence County!