by Tricia Headen

Lack of affordable housing puts communities in jeopardy.

The 1990�s will be recorded as a decade of substantial eco-nomic expansion for the nation. Employment growth rates remained high; unemployment at the national, state, and local level were below the federally defined full employment rate; consumer confidence peaked; and interest rates, after reaching a 30 year low in 1998, have gradually began to increase. That�s the result of a change in monetary policy adopted by the Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve in an attempt to cool the sweltering economy.

One sector that�s benefiting from the bustling economy is the housing market. New residential communities are springing up community-wide. News reports tell of the rising number of hous-ing permits. The cost of housing increases monthly. It would appear that demand is outpacing supply. However, there is evi-dence to suggest that a large segment of the population seeking to purchase a home are discouraged and turned away not for tradi- tional reasons like excessive debt, inability to raise down pay-ments, or high interest rates, but because they cannot afford the skyrocketing prices of homes available in their communities.

A recent report by the Bureau of the Census shows that only 50 percent of all American families can afford to buy a median priced existing home ($133,300). Denver�s median price home is 31 per-cent higher than the national level. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that average salaries in low to moderate-income groups are not keeping pace with the increasing housing rates. The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority�s annual report contends that this problem will persist because wages are not keeping up with the rising cost of housing. The report notes that since 1998 half of the new jobs generated in the region were in the three sectors with the lowest average annual wages: retail, agriculture, and services.

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