Workers Losing Ground on Housing

[Southpaw Bookworm]

Plenty of people talk about the growing shortage of housing that essential workers such as teachers, nurses and police officers can afford. But the National Association of Home Builders has done more than talk. Actually, it has drawn a series of stark pictures for the top 25 metropolitan areas in the nation.

The conclusion, from a survey released last week at an affordable housing conference in Washington: In most metro areas, "people holding three of the important community infrastructure jobs -- police officers, teachers, nurses -- can afford homes in less than one-half the census tracts." Retail clerks, whose pay is even lower, are priced out of 97 percent of the tracts.

(A caveat: The study assumed only a single income in the family rather than two wage earners. But single parents and young families with a stay-at-home parent are key first-time buyers.)

The picture in the Washington area is worse: A police officer, teacher or nurse making the median salary for that profession can afford a median-priced home in only 37 percent of census tracts. Retail workers can afford to buy in less than 1 percent of census tracts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8017-2004Dec17.html

[Worst Username Ever]

1. Nurses, I dunno. In my area, Minneapolis, they make over 50K a

year. We have quite a nursing shortage. A Minneapolis cop starts around 30K a year.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

2. In metro DC

50K/year will barely buy you a 1BR condo if you already have student loan debts, credit cards, or a car payment. I lived about 15 miles west of DC and my not-so-great (relatively high condo assn fee, no services other than a pool, and poor management) 660-square-foot condo now would cost about $170K.

[Sugarbleus]

3. Definately a housing shortage everywhere...

The harder it is for the middle class to buy a first time home, it's that much harder for renters and low income folks to find shelter also.

I suspect a plot. Perhaps the rental market is so lucrative that that is why the home buyers have to pay so much to purchase..they want to keep people from buying too much property as the renting class would disappear and the rip off rents would go away leaving some poor slum lord without his big bucks... Just a tinfoil hat thought here. :tinfoilhat:

I want to wretch when I hear the bobble heads talk of new housing starts. "Oh the economy is whipping right along..blah blah" :puke: