Consumers struggle to pay for necessities

Experts say the numbers illustrate one reason for the current mortgage crisis.

DAYTON (AP) — More Ohioans are struggling to pay for necessities such as food and health care because the percentage of their income going to housing expenses has grown, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The number of mortgage-holders in Ohio who spend 30 percent or more of their household incomes on housing leaped by more than 60 percent from 2000 to 2007, the Dayton Daily News analysis found. That comes out to one in three mortgage-holders in the state.

The study also found that the percentage of homeowners spending half or more of their income on mortgages, property taxes, insurance and utilities jumped by almost two-thirds.

“People have been encouraged to take on more debt than we ever historically thought was advisable,” said Jim McCarthy, president and chief executive of the Miami Valley Fair Housing Center.

Experts say the numbers illustrate one reason for the current mortgage crisis. People whose income is tied up in mortgage payments at the expense of other necessities are more at risk for losing a home to foreclosure.

“It’s really hard to find a silver lining in that cloud,” said Suzanne Gravette Acker, spokeswoman for the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio.

Ohio was one of only 14 states nationwide that saw median property values decline from 2006 to 2007, the newspaper’s analysis found. Of the 14, Ohio ranked 11th worst with the 0.9 percent decline, or a $1,235 loss in median value. Ohio’s median housing value is in the bottom third of all states in 2007.

The increase in house poor Ohioans is partly a consequence of years of marketing by lenders aimed at convincing homeowners to refinance to pay off consumer debt, McCarthy said.

At the same time, lenders lowered their underwriting standards, approving loans to people with less income, fewer assets and lower down payments.

“The process was really turned on its ear,” McCarthy said.

When people approached lenders about borrowing against their home, lenders said “how much do you need?” instead of sending independent appraisers out to learn the value of a property, McCarthy said.

McCarthy and other experts predict a new wave of foreclosures as people who took out adjustable rate mortgages, which begin with minimal monthly payments, balloon to their true value.

People who started making monthly payments of $250 on a $175,000 house could see their payments grow to $2,500 to $4,000 a month on the same house, McCarthy said.