First-time home buyers struggling in Vt.
MONTPELIER, Vt. --Housing in Vermont is slipping further out of reach of first-time home buyers and wages aren't keeping up with the increasing costs of housing, according to a study released Tuesday.
Last year, the median price for a new home increased 13 percent, to $317,900, while the price of existing homes climbed 2 percent, to $201,000, according to the study released by the Vermont Housing Council and the Vermont Housing Awareness Campaign.
The report paints a dire picture of affordability, saying the median income in Vermont last year was $51,622, enough to afford a home that cost about $158,000 -- if the buyer had about $11,000 in closing costs.
However, it did have a sliver of good news.
"We are seeing a modest stabilization of housing values this year and we expect that to continue probably for the next 18 months, but unfortunately, affordability still remains a huge problem," said Sarah Carpenter, the executive director of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency.
Carpenter and other officials said the long-term solution lies in modernizing land-use laws, getting additional state and federal resources and overcoming the not-in-my-back-yard objections to new housing projects seen in many communities.
Housing costs and affordability have been a big issue in Vermont for years.
Officials estimate that over the next few years, the state will be short about 21,000 units of affordable rental housing and 12,900 home ownership units.
"The housing shortage in our state, it doesn't discriminate by age, it doesn't discriminate by family status, single, married with kids, it doesn't care where you live in the state, where you reside, or what you do for a living," said Molly Dugan, the state's Deputy Commissioner for Housing and Community Affairs.
Lawmakers say the lack of affordable housing and well-paying jobs combine to make it hard for young Vermonters to stay in the state. It also makes it hard for Vermont businesses to attract qualified workers from elsewhere, because many can't find reasonably priced places to live near the jobs.
The housing crunch is most acute in Chittenden County, but it exists to some degree throughout Vermont, according to state Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, R-Essex-Orleans, the chairman of the Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee.
"We have direct evidence that Vermont's economy is suffering because we do not have adequate housing around the state," said Illuzzi. "The problem is the same throughout the state, it's only a question of degrees."
The Vermont Legislature this year is considering proposals to help alleviate the housing crunch.
The House just passed a bill that sets up incentives for housing development in areas designated for growth, while declining to do the same for outlying areas. It relaxes state permit requirements for housing built in growth centers. It would also expand the state's limited housing inspection program of rental stock by supplementing it with private inspectors.
Some feel the House bill is still too restrictive because it makes it too hard to build new housing in outlying areas. 