WS Chronicle

By Jess Schnur The Chronicle 

In the current economy, housing has become a hardship for many individuals and families in Forsyth County. According to Redfin’s Housing Market Data, as of February 2025, home prices in Winston-Salem sold for a median price of $280,000, which was a 1.8% increase from the previous year. For single-family homes, specifically, the median was listed at $292,000, which was a 2.5% jump from 2024.  

A Difficult Market 

According to data from the North Carolina Housing Coalition’s County Profile, 28% of households in Forsyth County (43,140 households) are cost-burdened: this refers to when over 30% of a household’s income is dedicated to covering housing expenses. Among these households, 18% of homeowners struggle to afford their homes, while 47% of renters have difficulties in keeping up with rent costs. Forsyth County ranks 9th in the state of North Carolina for evictions among renters, with 10,516 households filing for eviction and 419 households facing foreclosures.  

Fraud in the Housing Market 

Because of the increasing struggles for many to afford housing, many seedy websites disguised as government housing grant opportunities have sought to prey upon those affected by local housing crises. These suspicious sites often paywall their application process, posing them as “application fees” for said grants, despite not being official websites from government entities. According to Grants.gov, an official website of the United States Government, credible websites affiliated with the government will not use domains such as .org, .com, or .us. Websites designated by .gov domains are legitimate in affiliation with government bodies.  

Resources Available 

But there are legitimate opportunities to help alleviate costs amidst this difficult period of affordable living. One opportunity, provided through the USDA, helps homeowners in need of vital repairs to their homes. The Section 504 Home Repair Program works to provide single-family households with the necessary financial support for those in need. For very-low-income homeowners, loans (with a fixed rate of 1%, termed for 20 years) are available through the program to help repair, improve, or modernize their homes. For very-low-income elderly homeowners, grants are provided to qualifying households to help remove safety and health hazards from homes.  

To qualify for the 504 Home Repair Program, one must be the homeowner and occupy the house, be unable to obtain affordable credit elsewhere, have a household income that does not exceed the very low limit by county, and, for grants, be age 62 or older. 

For inquiries into the program, individuals can contact the Winston-Salem Sub Area Office at the Shelby Service Center: 704-471-0235, extension 4.  

On a more local scale, Forsyth County also offers similar services through its Community and Economic Development initiatives, such as various housing rehabilitation programs. These programs also help provide loans for low-to-moderate income households, with three different programs – the Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME), the Essential Single Family Rehabilitation Program (ESFR), and the Urgent Repair Program (URP) – to help those in various situations to improve the quality of life in their homes. To qualify, one must be a full-time resident of Forsyth County in an owner-occupied household, with homeowner’s insurance, and must be current on mortgage payments and property taxes. For more information, visit www.co.forsyth.nc.us/Housing/HousingRehab.aspx.  

For those looking to break into homeownership, the county also has programs dedicated to breaking the financial cycle that has barred many from owning their first home. Through initiatives like the Affordable Homeownership Opportunity Program (AHOP) and the Individual Development Accounts (IDA) Program, the county aims to help educate the next generation of homebuyers in budgeting, credit, saving, and affordability, while allocating loans and other financial resources to those in need. While each program has its own unique set of qualifications, both require residents who have never been prior homeowners with total household incomes at or below 80% of the Area Median Household Income limits. For more information, visit www.co.forsyth.nc.us/Housing/FirstTimeHomeBuyers.aspx.