HOUSING
Why is this important?
Achieving an adequate, affordable, and diverse supply of
housing for residents at all income levels is an essential
step towards a prosperous future.
What is the measure?
The Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) is the share
of homes sold in an area that is affordable to families
earning the median income. To calculate the HOI in an
area, the National Association of Home Builders assumes
a family can afford to spend 28% of its gross income on
housing. However, local jurisdictions may use different
affordability standards. For example, the county uses
33% and Sonora uses 45% of gross income for first time
homebuyer programs.
How are we doing?
While it’s likely that homes are bought and sold in the
county that cost less than the median home price of
$310,000 (as of May 2005), the numbers from local real
estate transactions indicate that no families of median
income can afford the current median home price.
Median income for a family of four in Tuolumne County
is $52,450.27 Using the HOI calculations, a Tuolumne
County family making the median income would fall
short of affording the median priced home by $361 per
month.28
Another measure of housing opportunity is the status
of the existing housing stock. The county’s survey
found that approximately 73.6% of its housing stock
is sound, 12.7% needs minor rehabilitation, 11%
requires moderate rehabilitation, and about 2.6% needs
substantial rehabilitation or are considered dilapidated.
In the city, 57% is sound, 18% needs minor work, 20%
needs moderate work, and about 5% needs substantial
rehabilitation or is dilapidated.
New construction of homes continues to be quite active,
with 435 residential building permits issued in 2004.
However, multi-family permits issuance is inactive. Of
the county’s 26,139 housing units, 7,186 (27.5%) are
vacation or second homes.
|
