Homeownership out of reach for many income levels

Last week, we wrote about the affordability of rental housing and the fact that we’ve all seen property values drop in recent years, but unfortunately that does not mean everyone can now afford a decent place to live. Currently, 76 percent of families in the Twin Cities earning less than $35,000 per year are still paying more than they can afford for housing. This week, we will focus on homeownership.

The Minnesota Housing Partnership  graph below  illustrates that even with lowered home values, homeownership still isn’t available to people of many income levels. The jobs listed on this graph are very common and essential to the functioning of a community, but you’ll see by the grey line that the individuals who hold these jobs are not able to afford a median priced home, and the black line shows most cannot afford rent either.

So, although we might think the affordability problem has been solved, it hasn’t. There is still a big gap between what people earn and the cost of housing. Our work is as important as ever. Please stay committed to building communities where everyone can afford to live.

If you liked this post, visit our Housing Matters! interactive online learning center, and see our Housing News section for more articles.

Shari Hemmingsen, Housing Matters! Intern, and Jill Kilibarda, Education and Civic Engagement Program Manager, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity