Vermont housing facts

	DEFINING OUR TERMS What do we mean by "affordable housing?"
	What does "affordable housing" mean and what does it look like? You might be surprised. Learn more ...
	2008 HOUSING VIDEO 10-minute streaming video produced by the Campaign
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	POSTERS Download here or request professionally printed two-color copies: pboyd@housingawareness.org
	Child care worker (927kb; PDF) Builders (635kb; PDF) EMTs 732kb; PDF) Town officials (837kb; PDF) Entire set of four (1.8 MB; PDF)
	PUBLICATIONS Reports issued by the campaign
	Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Housing and Wages in Vermont 2009 update (04/28/09; 824kb; PDF) 2008 update (03/25/08; 988kb; PDF) 2007 update (03/08/07; 748kb; PDF) 2006 update (02/15/06; 368kb; PDF) 2005 update (02/22/05; 324kb; PDF) 2004 update (02/23/04; 528kb; PDF) 2003 update (04/08/03; 885kb; PDF) Original 2002 report (03/11/02; 599kb; PDF) 2002 summary (03/11/02; 288kb; PDF) Affordable Housing in Vermont: Myths & Realities (05/19/03; 992kb; PDF) Download here or request professionally printed color copies of this handy brochure: pboyd@housingawareness.org Vermont Housing Awareness Campaign housing poll results (Summary; 03/12/02)
	HOUSING FACT SHEETS Housing statistics from Vermont's 14 counties and sole MSA; compiled from the Vermont Housing Data Web site
	Addison County Bennington County Burlington/South Burlington MSA Caledonia County Chittenden County Essex County Franklin County Grand Isle County Lamoille County Orange County Orleans County Rutland County Washington County Windham County Windsor County Vermont statewide
	RADIO ADS Streaming audio of campaign advertisements
	Gov. (former) Howard Dean (February 2002) Sen. Patrick Leahy (February 2002) Sen. Jim Jeffords (February 2002) Amy Geyer testimonial (October 2002) Melissa Moore testimonial (October 2002) Central Vermont focus (April 2003) (Streaming audio instructions)
	OTHER RESOURCES Publications/links by/to campaign members and partners
	Sub-Prime Lending in Vermont (CVOEO Fair Housing Project and VHFA 01/09; 104 KB; PDF) The State of the Nation's Housing (Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University; 06/08; 5.26 MB; PDF) Family Homelessness in Vermont (Vermont Housing Finance Agency; 06/30/08; 388kb; PDF) The Costs and Benefits of Assisting Vermont's Chronically Homeless (Vermont Housing Finance Agency; 05/13/08; 948kb; PDF) Housing and the Needs of Vermont's Aging Population (Vermont Housing Finance Agency; 09/10/07; 364kb; PDF) Home Share of Central Vermont An alternative for those who want to stay at home but need assistance The Lack of Affordable Housing in New England: How Big a Problem? Why Is It Growing? What Are We Doing About It? (Link to New England Public Policy Center; 01/07) Housing and Vermont's School Enrollment (Vermont Housing Finance Agency; 01/8/07; 524kb; PDF) Housing and the Vermont Economy (Vermont Housing Finance Agency; 01/30/06; 308kb; PDF) Vermont Housing Data The state's largest single source for Vermont-related market rate and affordable housing information Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness Online home of Vermont's Continuums of Care and Interagency Council Interagency Council on Homelessness Providing federal leadership for activities to assist homeless families and individuals Neighbors survey (12/23/03) Attitudes toward affordable housing change once people meet their new neighbors Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS) Shelter and services for homeless in Burlington Affordable Housing Design Advisor A HUD tool, resource, idea bank and step-by-step guide to design in affordable housing Supporting Housing in Vermont Communities: A Booklet for Towns (Vt. Assoc. of Planning and Develop. Agencies; 11/04; 504kb; PDF) Upper Valley Housing Needs Study (Autumn 2002; link to study at Twin Pines Housing Trust site) Unlocking Housing Opportunities: Strategies for Increasing the Supply of Housing in Chittenden County (Chittenden County Housing Task Force; 09/05/02; 76kb; PDF) Housing in the Addison Region: A Guide for Town Planning (Addison Co. Regional Planning Commission; 02/01; 497kb; PDF) 2001 Regional Housing Summit Overview (Vt. Regional Planning Commissions, 527kb; PDF) Mad River Valley Affordable Housing: Needs and Strategies 2001 Update (Center for Rural Studies, UVM, 1.02MB; PDF) Montpelier Housing Task Force Report (Montpelier Housing Task Force, 267kb; PDF) Paycheck to Paycheck: Working Families and the Cost of Housing in America (National Housing Conference; 06/01/99; 380kb; PDF) Low-Income Homeownership: Examining the Unexamined Goal (Brookings Institution Press/Joint Center for Housing Studies; 2002)

Vermont is facing a serious housing shortage, in large part because we're not building enough new housing to meet the growing demand. The problem is made worse because the shortage is driving up rents and home prices. As a result, Vermont is actually one of the expensive states in the nation when it comes to paying for housing. Building more housing-and doing it in a way that respects our state's character and environment-would not only ease the current shortage, but provide economic benefits as well.

The median purchase price of a primary home in Vermont in 2008 remained at $200,000, unchanged from the previous year and a 100 percent increase since 1996, the baseline year for these reports.
A Vermont household would need an annual income of $63,000 as well as $14,000 in cash (for closing costs and a 5 percent down payment) to purchase that home. Sixty-one percent of Vermont's households have incomes below $63,000.
The median income for all Vermont's households is $51,566. A household with that income could afford a home priced at about $163,000, assuming it has about $11,000 in cash for closing costs and down payment.
The median price for a newly-constructed home in Vermont remained about the same in 2008 as in 2007, at $270,000. A household would need an annual income of about $85,000 and $18,000 for closing costs and down payment to afford that new home.
The average Fair Market Rent for a modest, two-bedroom apartment in Vermont reached $914 in 2009, a 9 percent increase since the year before and a 63 percent increase since 1996.
A Vermont household would have to earn $17.57 per hour, or $36,550 annually, to afford that Fair Market Rent. At least 52 percent of Vermont's non-farm employees — more than 151,216 people — have wages below that level.
Vermont had the tightest rental housing market in the nation in 2008. The rental vacancy rate was 3.5 percent. The homeownership vacancy rate was 1.6 percent, the fourth lowest in the nation. It is generally understood that a healthy, stable housing market will have vacancy rates of about 3 percent in the homeownership market and about 5 percent in rental.
Homelessness in Vermont continues to be a challenge. A total of 3,459 people were served by Vermont's homeless shelters in the 12-month period ending in June, 2008, almost exactly the same number as in 2007. The annual one-night count of homeless Vermonters conducted in January 2008 showed an increase in the homeless population counted that night of nearly 24 percent from 2007, and 28 percent of the people staying in homeless shelters that night were under 18.

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