Seattle climbs to 13th priciest housing market
Despite falling home prices last year, the Seattle area surged up the list of most expensive U.S. markets.
Seattle moved from being the 24th most expensive place to buy a home in 2007 to 13th last year, thanks to the fact that local home prices had not fallen nearly as much as those in many other expensive markets. That's according to "Paycheck to Paycheck: Wages and the Cost of Housing in America," a study by the Center for Housing Policy of more than 200 metropolitan areas.
The study showed the median home price in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties at $335,000 in the fourth quarter of last year, down from $380,000 in the third quarter 2007, which the center used for its previous study.
Seattle was the 52nd most expensive market for renters, up from 60th in 2007, according to the study. It showed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment at $987 a month, up from $854 in 2007.
The study also compares home prices and rents with wages in 60 occupations, noting that many of the jobs the federal stimulus package is creating do not pay enough to afford a home.
Many of the stimulus jobs are in construction, but home prices nationwide remain out of reach for carpenters, equipment operators, long haul truck drivers and construction laborers, the study said. It said construction laborers also struggled to pay rents in three quarters of the U.S. markets studied, while equipment operators and long-haul truck drivers were unable to afford rents in approximately one-quarter of markets.
"Contrary to popular belief, the recent decline in home prices has not resolved the nation's housing affordability problems," Jeffrey Lubell, executive director of the Center for Housing Policy, said in a news release. "Working families -- including most of the workers who will be hired as a result of federal spending in the stimulus package -- still cannot afford to buy a home in most markets, and many also struggle to afford their rents."
The study shows the need for long-term solutions, said John McIlwain, chairman of the Center for Housing Policy, senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute and the institute's housing chairman.
"By acquiring well-located properties made vacant through foreclosure and by instituting policies that can ensure that a modest share of future development is affordable, communities can bring housing within reach of working families," he said.
In Seattle, carpenters averaged 44 percent of the $108,843 in annual income needed to buy a median-price home, and equipment operators, long haul truck drivers and construction laborers made even less, the study said. It found all of these workers except laborers made enough to afford a two-bedroom apartment, while laborer income was below even the one-bedroom level.
Construction manager was the only one of the 60 occupations that paid enough to afford the median area home price, although many were over the halfway mark, meaning couples with in those jobs could afford to buy.
For the income needed to buy, the study assumed a 10-percent down payment, and monthly payments including principal, interest, taxes and insurance; and defined afforable as payments taking up no more than 28 percent income. For rentals, it defined affordable as gross rent of up to 30 percent of hourly wage.
San Francisco remained the most expensive place to buy or rent at the end of last year, despite the median home price falling from $770,000 in 2007 to $575,000 last year. That area's rent was $1,658 a month last year, up from $1,551 in 2007.
Areas that went from being more expensive than Seattle for buyers in 2007 to less expensive in 2008 were: Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Oakland, Santa Rosa, Salinas and Vallejo, Calif., Bethesda, Md., Naples, Fla., and Cambridge, Mass. Seattle moved into a tie with Oxnard, Calif.
Saginaw, Mich., and Youngstown, Ohio, tied for the least expensive purchase markets at the end of last year, with a median home price of $73,000. Wheeling, W.V., was the least expensive rental market, at $577 a month.
SEATTLEPI.COM is a media partner of KOMO News. Read the original SEATTLEPI.COM story with comments.
Seattle moved from being the 24th most expensive place to buy a home in 2007 to 13th last year, thanks to the fact that local home prices had not fallen nearly as much as those in many other expensive markets. That's according to "Paycheck to Paycheck: Wages and the Cost of Housing in America," a study by the Center for Housing Policy of more than 200 metropolitan areas.
The study showed the median home price in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties at $335,000 in the fourth quarter of last year, down from $380,000 in the third quarter 2007, which the center used for its previous study.
Seattle was the 52nd most expensive market for renters, up from 60th in 2007, according to the study. It showed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment at $987 a month, up from $854 in 2007.
The study also compares home prices and rents with wages in 60 occupations, noting that many of the jobs the federal stimulus package is creating do not pay enough to afford a home.
Many of the stimulus jobs are in construction, but home prices nationwide remain out of reach for carpenters, equipment operators, long haul truck drivers and construction laborers, the study said. It said construction laborers also struggled to pay rents in three quarters of the U.S. markets studied, while equipment operators and long-haul truck drivers were unable to afford rents in approximately one-quarter of markets.
"Contrary to popular belief, the recent decline in home prices has not resolved the nation's housing affordability problems," Jeffrey Lubell, executive director of the Center for Housing Policy, said in a news release. "Working families -- including most of the workers who will be hired as a result of federal spending in the stimulus package -- still cannot afford to buy a home in most markets, and many also struggle to afford their rents."
The study shows the need for long-term solutions, said John McIlwain, chairman of the Center for Housing Policy, senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute and the institute's housing chairman.
"By acquiring well-located properties made vacant through foreclosure and by instituting policies that can ensure that a modest share of future development is affordable, communities can bring housing within reach of working families," he said.
In Seattle, carpenters averaged 44 percent of the $108,843 in annual income needed to buy a median-price home, and equipment operators, long haul truck drivers and construction laborers made even less, the study said. It found all of these workers except laborers made enough to afford a two-bedroom apartment, while laborer income was below even the one-bedroom level.
Construction manager was the only one of the 60 occupations that paid enough to afford the median area home price, although many were over the halfway mark, meaning couples with in those jobs could afford to buy.
For the income needed to buy, the study assumed a 10-percent down payment, and monthly payments including principal, interest, taxes and insurance; and defined afforable as payments taking up no more than 28 percent income. For rentals, it defined affordable as gross rent of up to 30 percent of hourly wage.
San Francisco remained the most expensive place to buy or rent at the end of last year, despite the median home price falling from $770,000 in 2007 to $575,000 last year. That area's rent was $1,658 a month last year, up from $1,551 in 2007.
Areas that went from being more expensive than Seattle for buyers in 2007 to less expensive in 2008 were: Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Oakland, Santa Rosa, Salinas and Vallejo, Calif., Bethesda, Md., Naples, Fla., and Cambridge, Mass. Seattle moved into a tie with Oxnard, Calif.
Saginaw, Mich., and Youngstown, Ohio, tied for the least expensive purchase markets at the end of last year, with a median home price of $73,000. Wheeling, W.V., was the least expensive rental market, at $577 a month.
SEATTLEPI.COM is a media partner of KOMO News. Read the original SEATTLEPI.COM story with comments.