Study: Housing and transportation costs outpacing incomes

Housing and transportation in the nations largest 25 metro areas have swelled by 44 percent since 2000 while incomes have failed to keep pace, according to a new study.

Housing and transportation in the nation’s largest 25 metro areas have swelled by 44 percent since 2000 while incomes have failed to keep pace, according to a new study.








Thomas Grillo
Real Estate Editor- Boston Business Journal

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The combined costs of housing and transportation in the nation’s largest 25 metro areas have swelled by 44 percent since 2000 while incomes have failed to keep pace, according to a report from the Center for Housing Policy.

Greater Boston, where households spend 54 percent of their income on housing and transportation, fared a little better than the nation average. In the nation’s 25 largest cities, the report finds that moderate-income households spend an average of 59 percent of their income on housing and transportation. The highest burden is Miami, where households spend 72 percent of their income on housing and transportation. The next highest burden is in the Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., area (69 percent).

Housing costs alone do not paint a complete picture. The inclusion of transportation costs shifts the affordability of many cities. For example, housing costs in Houston are comparatively affordable for moderate-income households, ranking eighth out of the 25 regions examined, but adding in transportation costs drops Houston into 17th place in overall affordability. In contrast, metro areas such as Boston, San Francisco, and New York are some of the least affordable regions for moderate-income households when housing alone is considered, but are among the most affordable when housing and transportation costs are considered together.

For more see “Losing Ground: The Struggle of Moderate-Income Households to Afford the Rising Costs of Housing and Transportation” http://www.nhc.org/media/files/LosingGround_10_2012.pdf.

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