HOUSING AFFORDABILITY

What Was Measured?
The following were measured: the relationship between the countywide median price of a single-family home or condominium; the average monthly rent for 1 -bedroom and 2-bedroom apartments; and the ability to pay yearly housing costs. "Affordable" housing should cost no more than 35 percent of gross household income per year. This is within the guidelines used by lending institutions when considering a loan application for real estate within San Mateo County. This is higher than the 30 percent HUD standard.

Why Is It Important?
A lack of affordable housing limits the ability of young people to remain in the county after they enter the work force and makes it difficult for employers to recruit qualified workers into the county.

If housing in the county is too expensive, people employed in the county obtain housing in neighboring Continued counties and commute in.  If there are not enough high-paying jobs in the county to support the cost of housing, county residents are forced to commute out to adjacent counties to work.  This jobs-housing imbalance contributes to traffic congestion.  Lack of affordable housing also leads to overcrowding of housing units and drives many low-income people below the poverty line.  In some cases this can lead to homelessness.

What Was Found?
The median purchase price for a single-family home or condominium has dropped over the past five years. This has brought the price of the median-
priced condominium into line with the ability to purchase by the median-income household.  At the same time, the median-priced single-family home is not affordable to the median-income household, nor are median-priced condominiums affordable to those below median income.

The average monthly rent for apartments has risen over the past five years, yet apartments remain affordable to median-income households. However, low-income households (50 percent of median) cannot afford the average rent for a 1- bedroom or larger apartment.

Of families making less than median income, some are paying low mortgage payments on homes they have owned for a long time, or are paying less than average rents. The approximately 21 percent of households with incomes of less than $25,000 per year generally pay more than 35 percent of income for housing, live in substandard housing, share housing with others, or are homeless.

What Is The Trend?
San Mateo County continues to lag behind both the nation and the state in affordable single-family housing. In 1995, the median-priced home cost $155,200 nationwide and $182,380 in California, while the median-priced home in the county cost $315,000. Statewide in 1995, 37 percent of families could afford the median-priced single-family home compared to only 17.6 percent in the county. Condominium prices on the other hand are in line with state figures with 50.4 percent of the county households able to afford the median-priced condominium compared to 51 percent statewide.

Apartments in the county are generally affordable to the majority of households. About 76 percent can afford the average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment and 67.5 percent can afford average rent for a 2-bedroom or larger apartment.

SOURCES: CACI "Sourcebook of Zip Code Demographics" ; San Mateo County Assoc. of Realtors (SAMCAR) "Completed Sales" records.

Researcher: David Crabbe