We get a lot of questions from folks interested in the issue of housing affordability here on the Cape, so we thought we’d give a quick overview of the issue and some of the potential solutions being discussed.
What exactly is meant by “affordable”? The benchmark for housing affordability is 30% of a family’s income. Here on Cape, the Area Median income (AMI) from 2014-2018 (per census) was $70,621 (see here for census data). During the same interval the median home sale price was $367,700. The total monthly payment on a median priced home comes to approximately 28% of median income if the buyer has a traditional 20% down payment (jump to our math below).
So with a good-sized down payment, the median priced home can be purchased by the median-earning household. Good news so far. Now let’s break down housing affordability for households earning below median income. Take a look at the graph of residential price distribution in 2019. Here we matched home prices to the income brackets in the next graph to determine how many homes are available to homes in their income price range. Notice the steep decline in available homes below median income affordability of $367k. Now compare that to the graph of income distribution. Notice the mis-match. If your household earns 68% AMI you may be only 32% away from median in terms of income, but 32% less than median home value equates to $250k, and there are almost no homes available in that price bracket.
In addition, these graphs don’t account for the quality of the housing at each price point. A good-quality ‘move in’ condition home can be found around the median price point of $367,000. However, once you get down to about the $300,000 mark it is extremely challenging to find a home that is not in need of significant repairs or upgrades before it is ready for occupancy. (If we could graph housing quality against price point, it would show an even sharper peak than the price graph). On the one hand, this presents an opportunity to a buyer who is willing to buy a fixer upper for a low purchase price, bang nails after work and build equity. However, it also means that same buyer must budget for repairs in addition to down payment, which further reduces the price of the home they can afford. And for the less hands-on households, it means a home purchase is a nonstarter.
Ok, so it is a challenge for a household earning less than AMI to buy a home, so they decide to rent and save up to buy down the line. Good plan – but let’s take a look at rental market first. Per HUD guidelines, fair market rent for a 3 bedroom house in Barnstable county is $1,919/month (reference here). This is $264/month more than the same household would be paying for a median priced home of their own. Why the mis-match? Barnstable County has a 1% vacancy rate for rentals, which represents a huge shortage – a healthy rate would be 7%. This shortage translates to high demand, which translates to – you guessed it, high prices.
So let’s circle back to the median home value calculation above, which assumed that our median earning family had a 20% downpayment to apply to their median-priced home. If a renting household is paying close to $300 (16%) per month more to rent than to own, it can be a real challenge to save enough money to put towards a downpayment. They are stuck in a loop of paying too much for rent, while also pricing themselves out of the possibility of homeownership.
So what is the solution? There is no silver bullet, but bringing more rental units online is a big part of the answer. One tool that has gained a lot of traction on the Cape is easing prohibitions on accessory apartments. This is a minor change which can go a long way to bringing more small, organically affordable, market rate units into the market place. Other initiatives include property tax incentives for landlords of long-term rentals, form-based code zoning reform to encourage multi-use and multi-family development, and raising density in areas where the infrastructure already exists to service a higher density of homes. A lot of innovative work is being done to help restore a healthy, balanced real estate market to the Cape (and the nation). It’s a topic that is near and dear to our hearts – if you ever have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’d be happy to discuss in greater detail.
Calculations
Area Median income 2014-2018 (per census): $70,621
• Average Median home price 2014-2018 (per CCI board of realtors): $367,700
At today's conforming interest rate of 3.375% (CC5 2.06.2020) a mortgage on a $367,700 home looks like this:
• 20% Down payment = $73,540
• Loan Amount = $294,160
• Principal/Interest monthly payment = $1,300.47
• Taxes = $245 (assuming an imaginary town with 8/1000 mil rate and assessed value equal to purchase price {market value is typically actually 120%-124% of assessment for most towns in the mid-Cape})
• Insurance = ~$110
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Total Monthly Payment Estimate = $1,655.47