Housing costs rise faster than paychecks

Median home prices rose three times faster than most workers' wages.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pay raises for many low- and moderate-income jobs generally aren't keeping up with soaring housing costs, with workers like janitors and salesclerks most often feeling the pinch, said a study released today by an affordable housing coalition.
In 2003, sales clerks and janitors earned just over $18,000 a year, 3 percent higher than in 2001, not accounting for inflation, the report from the Center for Housing Policy said. The median monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in 2003 was $791, up 10 percent from $721.
Generally, housing is considered affordable if a family pays no more than 30 percent of its income. The study of 136 of the nation's largest housing markets found that in only 25 markets did both janitors and clerks make enough money to comfortably afford the rent if their families were relying on only one income.
Elementary school teachers, police officers and nurses typically won't have the same problem when renting, although they do encounter similar affordability problems when buying homes, the study found.
It found a median salary for nurses of almost $33,000 a year, up about 4 percent. Elementary school teachers made about $42,000 a year, up roughly 3 percent, and police officers $44,000, up almost 7 percent.
Median price
The median home price in 2003 was $170,000, up 9 percent from 2001. The change might be understated, however, because the 2003 figure covered only existing homes, while the 2001 figure covered both existing and new homes.
In 48 markets, including Boston and Seattle, families who relied only on the income of someone working in any of the five fields effectively were priced out of the market.
Many of those markets were in the fast-growing metropolitan areas of the South such as Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta.
"You would think that on the homeownership side that lower interest rates would make a difference, but it doesn't really because the level of home prices has increased dramatically," said Barbara Lipman, who studied the data for the center, the research affiliate of the National Housing Conference coalition.
Looked at another way, to afford a two-bedroom apartment, a family would need an hourly wage of $15.21. It's a mark that nurses, police and teachers meet, although sales clerks have an hourly wage of just $8.70, and janitors $8.85.
"Where there are gaps, they have to make adjustments, or they can devote a disproportionate share of their income on housing," Lipman said.
A second report released by the conference in conjunction with the National Association of Counties arrived at similar conclusions.
About 85 percent of county officials surveyed in that report said that most of the new housing in their respective counties was targeted at middle- and upper-income families, not lower-income families.
Roughly 75 percent of the county officials said a lack of public financing and a not-in-my-backyard-type attitude in neighborhoods were the biggest barriers to erecting more affordable housing.
The problems hindered the ability of many teachers, police and firefighters to live in the communities they work in, said the county association's president, Angelo Kyle.
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