August 9, 2005
Grim news from the Census Bureau -- Rhode Island ranks among lowest in creating new housing
More evidence that we have a lot of work to do. A four year anaylsis by the Census Bureau shows that Rhode Island is creating less new housing than almost any other state. Only Washington D.C. and New York grew more slowly. The lack of new housing is a key factor in Rhode Island’s soaring home prices.
Housing costs force lifestyle choices: inadequate schools, long commutes, relocation
The high cost of housing is causing families to make more and more sacrifices in other areas. The Homeownership Alliance’s new poll reports:
- More than half of families are worried their children will be forced to attend inadequate schools.
- More than half are considering relocating to find affordable desirable housing.
- A third say at least one person commutes over an hour to work.
- For those making less than $25,000 a year, homeownership is out of reach.
Click here for the news release.
$3.5 million financing deal preserves long-term affordability of North Kingstown apartments
Congressman Jim Langevin and Rhode Island Housing announce a financing deal that heads off the possible loss of 100 Section 8 apartments. In exchange for favorable financing from the housing agency, the owners of Heritage Village I agreed to keep the units affordable until at least 2045. Rhode Island Housing officials had worried that Heritage Village I would be converted to condos or market-rate apartments given North Kingstown’s red-hot real estate market.
The median price of a single family home in North Kingstown is $419,363, an increase of 91 percent since 2000. Read the story in the North Kingstown Standard-Times.
Rhode Island’s affordability gap is among the nation’s worst
The gap between home prices and income is the greatest since the housing bubble of the late 1980s, according to the nonprofit group, New England Economic Partnership. Rhode Island is cited as one of the worst locations in a recently published Business Week article. Our research shows, from 1999-2004, single family home prices rose 11 times faster than income.
