(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade’s newly created Office of Housing and Community Vitality has a new leader, who says he plans to mitigate housing concerns across the City.

Chief of Housing Steve Posey said his office is working hard to ensure affordable housing for anyone choosing Colorado Springs as their home. According to Posey, the City has been growing at about two percent each year – a positive sign for the long-term health of Colorado Springs.

To manage this growth, the City is looking to increase affordable, multi-family apartments for those in entry level jobs – hospitality workers, teachers and others in similar labor markets. As of now, rental housing prices are between $1,200 and $3,000.

“We still need a whole lot of apartments that are much more affordably priced than that,” said Posey. “I mean somewhere down in the $1,200 dollar a month range, because that’s the level that really matches up well with some of our entry level jobs.”

Posey said the City is working closely with developers who request approval and funding for housing projects and locations they think are best for the specific type of housing.

Compared to other cities in Colorado, home prices aren’t as high.

“We’re actually better than some of the other spots. [Colorado Springs] has not seen home prices shoot up at the same rate that Denver or Boulder has, but they’re going up…,” stated Posey.

However, the ability of locals and the City’s newcomers – whose median age is a little over 34-years-old – to buy homes has decreased significantly over the years, according to Posey. The Housing Opportunity Index, which gauges how many houses on the market a person can afford with their income, has decreased from 70% to 18%.

The Chief of Housing said increasing prices coupled with costs to build a new home and what banks are charging for loans makes it hard to be a homebuyer.

“We are going to continue to do everything that we can to incentivize and encourage development of more affordable apartments for people who may be at a little bit lower income, said Posey. “We’re also going to [ask] ‘Are there ways that we could participate and incentivize opportunities for younger people in particular to actually start buying houses here in Colorado Springs and make this their home?'”