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Report: Housing costs rising fast

A housing shortage is driving up home prices faster than incomes are rising, pointing to the need for more affordable housing, a report released Tuesday said.

The median price for a home reached $165,000 in 2004, up 10 percent from 2003 and 67 percent from 1996, according to the report from the Housing Council and the Vermont Housing Awareness Campaign.

To purchase such a home, a household would have to earn more than $62,000 a year, however, the median annual household income in Vermont is just over $43,000, the report said.

"This is a persistant problem — a serious problem — and it's everyone's problem," said John Fairbanks of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency.

New homes cost much more than older homes. The median price for a new single-family home or condominium last year was $294,000, an 11 percent increase from 2003, the report said.

An analysis of available real estate sales data in 2004 found no new homes affordable to a household earning the state's median income, the report said.

Proposed cuts in the federal budget could make the housing problem worse, officials said.