JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – A housing study of a 9-county radius has kicked off following a study meeting Wednesday evening in Jamestown.

Representatives for the City of Jamestown, Stutsman County, and other communities including Medina and Harvey were present to hear a brief presentation from Maxfield Research & Consulting.

Matt Mullins is Vice President of Maxfield Research.

The housing study will focus on Region 6 of North Dakota, which includes the counties of Barnes, Dickey, Foster, Griggs, LaMoure, Logan, McIntosh, Stutsman and Wells.

Mullins says housing remains a major issue not only in North Dakota and the United States. He says based on their study from 2013, he’s not seen much development since then in the state.

The housing study will take place over the next five months, which will then be compiled into a full report to be distributed to city and county agencies in the Spring of 2022.

Mullins pointed out that they were merely putting together a “guidebook” to hopefully spur growth in the housing market.

From there, community leaders and developers can use the study findings to market themselves and stimulate the housing market for their area.

Mullins added they’ll be contacting city leaders, economic development agencies, chambers of commerce, property managers, real estate agents, developers, and others who may provide some data in their study.

The study was engaged by the South Central Dakota Regional Council.