Owning a home elusive to more (Denver Post)

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

Bolding is mine. Further decimation of the middle class. Check out the graph, below.

Salaries lag increased costs. A growing number of workers are commuting from ever-farther-away affordable housing.
By Margaret Jackson
Denver Post Staff Writer



Working families with children are finding it harder than ever to own their homes, according to a study released Wednesday by the Center for Housing Policy.

The rate of homeownership for low- and moderate-income families fell below 1978 figures, even though nearly 70 percent of Americans own their homes, the group found.

>snip
The effects are being felt in communities where teachers, police and firefighters can't afford to buy homes where they work.

>snip

A problem, Retsinas says, is that "the labor market in our economy produces lots of low- wage jobs. There is an incredible disconnect between the housing market and the labor market".

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_3630078#

MKJ

[Hissyspit]

1. I don't have one.

I have too much other debt that I want to take care of.

[BlueStateBlue]

2. I'm priced out of the market in northern NJ

They want $375K for a knockdown. I think the tide is turning, though. I hope...

[Virginia Dare]

3. Very difficult to buy a single family home...

in the D.C. suburbs for under $500,000. Hard to do on a middle class salary, even around here.

[speedingbullet]

4. Irony?

The only occupation that can afford the home is a construction manager? That $105,000 salary may be in jeopardy if no can afford to by houses from the construction company. Oh well, they can also build convenience stores.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

13. Welcome to DU, speedingbullet. Nice catch on the irony. n/t

MLK

:hi:

[Blue_Tires]

14. i noticed that as well....n/t

[marew]

5. Bought my little house 4 years ago...

Houses like mine in this neighborhood are now going for at least 75% more than I paid. I couldn't afford to buy it today. We are having a crisis in housing here in west central FL. New teachers, nurses, policemen, firemen, etc., can't afford to buy homes anymore. Really sad. The real people who we need in society are being squeezed out of the market. I think it is getting increasingly difficult to 'make it' in America today unless you are born into a very wealthy family.

[CountAllVotes]

9. I got my house in 2000

Luckily. I paid $85,000 for it and the seller had to put about $20,000 into it before it could be sold (it was a total wreck). Now it is probably worth $300,000 or more (I have had some major work done on it admittedly). I don't plan on selling it. It is a small house (900 sq. feet) with very low power bills. I'd be an idiot to sell it because I now own it (paid it off recently). Where would I go?

I find this amazing to say the least.

:kick:

[HippieCowgirl]

6. Also this article on CNN

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The rate of home ownership for low- to moderate-income families with children is lower than in 1978, even as the overall rate of home ownership increases, according to a study from the Center for Housing Policy released Wednesday.

The study found that only 59.6 percent of working class families owned their homes in 2003, the most recent year for which figures were available, down from 62.5 percent in 1978.

Meanwhile, home ownership in the overall population has risen to 68.3 percent in 2003 from 65.2 percent in 1978. The study is based upon Census Bureau data.

According to the Center, that translates into 2.3 million children who would be living in owner-occupied housing if the rates had remained the same.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/22/real_estate/homeownership_study/index.htm

[fasttense]

7. So much for the ownership society. I guess the crazy king george

didn't mean home ownership.

[LibDemAlways]

8. My local school district here in CA hired a

new superintendent from Connecticut a couple of years back. His wife came out to look at houses, was appalled at the crap she saw for big money, and turned around and went home. Her husband stayed a year in an apartment and he went back too. There is simply no reasonably priced housing in much of California. There aren't any new homes being built in my area anymore for under a million dollars.

[SmokingJacket]

10. AN EMPTY LOT in my neighborhood...

is going for twice what I paid for my actual house eight years ago. Has my income gone up proportionally? Au contraire, mon frere.

[KansDem]

11. So, rent a home from the Construction Manager...

And others in the top income brackets who have profited handsomely from Bush's economic policies. What do you think those benefactors will spend their tax cuts on? One might tend to believe "investment properties."

:sarcasm:

[Samurai_Writer]

12. Try buying a home on only one income

I'm single and 45. I've never owned a home, because I cannot afford it, and now I REALLY can't afford it, with the housing market the way it is. I make decent money, but after being a single parent for 20+ years, going through three layoffs in five years, and taking jobs for even lower and lower salary, I don't think I'll ever be able to afford one and still pay my medical bills, utilities, and other expenses (I have no credit card debt, only a car payment).

I'm probably going to have to work until I die. I've already told my family that if I'm in any way disabled enough so I can't work anymore, that's it, I'm buying a ticket to the next life. I'm not going to put that type of financial burden on my children.

Welcome to Bush's new America.

[kath]

15. Sheesh, back in the 50's and 60's people with a high school ed could

buy homes **on only one income**. My dad, in 1957, at the age of 24 and with a high-school diploma (and going to night school to get a bachelors degree) bought a home. Mom didn't work.
Several years later, my uncle, at around the age of 30, who worked as a laborer in a steel mill (unloading slag, I think) bought a nice 3 bedroom home. His wife didn't work. BUT, he had a **UNION** job. Even though there were periods of lay-offs and strikes when his family got govt-surplus food, they were able to keep their home.

Those days are long gone in this country -- now TWO people with all kinds of edumacation find it hard to afford a home. (although it's true that back then, the houses people lived in were much more modestly sized. Kids actually shared bedrooms - GASP!)