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Housing unaffordable for many
by Tom Gresham
Observer Staff

Housing in Williston has grown so costly that it locks out even many well-paid professionals, according to a recent analysis done by a consultant and the town planner.

The report compares the median incomes of various occupations in Chittenden County with the median price for a house sold in Williston in 2004 — $237,000. Town Planner Lee Nellis said the analysis, which he compiled with consultant Michael Crane, indicates a household income of $77,000 would be required to afford Williston’s median house, depending on the purchaser’s accumulated equity. The median household income in Chittenden County is $68,800.

According to the report, two-thirds of the workers in the Burlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Chittenden County and part of Franklin County, do not earn enough money to purchase the median-priced home in Williston, even if they live in a household with another wage earner with an equal income. For those single wage-earner households, the prospect of home ownership in Williston is particularly daunting.

The report assumes that one can afford to devote 30 percent of one’s income toward home ownership expenses, which include mortgage payments, insurance and utilities.

“The report makes the point in an unavoidable way,” Nellis said. “We’re talking about people who cannot afford to live here who have college degrees, who are in professional occupations and who are part of the community in many different ways. A lot of people who live in Williston right now could not buy their homes in the present market.”

Because the report targets median sales prices, it suggests that half of the home sales in Williston last year were below the $237,000 figure. However, Nellis said the market for a single-family detached house is even steeper than the report suggests. He said the median sales price figure includes condominiums and modular homes. The houses that were purchased for under $237,000, he said, were not bought for much less than that.

“It’s very hard to find a single-family detached house in Williston for $237,000 right now,” Nellis said.

The report lists examples of the occupations that do not carry a median income significant enough to provide just half of the income necessary to afford a $237,000 home. Examples of the jobs include architectural drafters, electricians, graphic designers and dental assistants.

The analysis also lists occupations that would need another significant wage earner in the household to afford the median-priced home in Williston (chefs, insurance underwriters, surveyors, physical therapists), occupations that would need only a modest supplemental income (insurance sales agents, loan officers, computer programmers) and occupations who can afford it solely with one income (lawyers, financial managers, dentists).

Nellis presented the report to the Selectboard at a Jan. 24 meeting. He told the board the analysis demonstrates that “you are out of this from the beginning unless you work in a very highly paid profession.” The report casts doubt not only on whether the town has “affordable housing,” which is defined as affordable to a household making 80 percent of the median income, but even whether there are affordable homes for those making much more.

“Decisions are going to need to be made about who is going to live here and if there isn’t some proactive action soon by the town, then the town is going to be home only to the top 25 percent,” Nellis said.

Selectboard members appeared surprised by the data.

“It was really quite an eye opener,” said Selectboard Chairwoman Ginny Lyons.

Selectboard member Terry Macaig said the report would be an important addition to the ongoing discussion of affordable housing in town.

Macaig said the report shed new light on the severity of the problem.

“It puts a doubt in my mind as to whether there really is such a thing as affordable housing in Williston right now,” Macaig said.

Nellis told the Selectboard that he has a personal view on affordable housing in Williston because he and his wife recently looked for a new home.

The report has a much more dire tone than a housing inventory study produced by former Town Planner Mike Munson last March. Although Munson emphasized the need for the town to make affordable housing a priority, he said the town’s housing stock was more affordable than is commonly perceived.

“If the assessed value is a valid measure of sales value, this indicates that approximately one-third of the dwellings in Williston are valued at levels that should be affordable to families having incomes of no more than 80 percent of the median for families in Chittenden County,” Munson wrote in the report.

Selectboard Jeff Fehrs said the recent report more closely matched his impressions.

“I think Lee’s conclusion is more in line with my gut sense of what’s happening here,” Fehrs said.

Nellis said the recent report simply looks at different, more recent data than Munson’s study, reflecting a rapidly appreciating market. He points out his report also examines sales prices instead of assessed value, producing a snapshot more focused on the market.

Fehrs said the report helps justify a strong town push to examine affordable housing, though he wonders how much of a dent the town can make against larger market forces.

“I wonder if our hands are tied,” Fehrs said.

Lyons also said the report validated a push to improve housing options in town.

“It is such a global issue, but there are things we can do,” Lyons said. “We can’t change the high property values, but we can do things to encourage more moderate and low-priced housing.”

Although the recent report focused on Williston’s housing market, Nellis said the issue is clearly much larger than what is happening in town. He said Vermont, and particularly Chittenden County, is facing an acute shortage of affordable housing.

Nellis said the town can do more to encourage affordable housing construction, but noted that relaxing development regulations can only go so far to cure the problem. He said he has worked previously in communities with very relaxed construction regulations with similar affordable housing issues.

“This is a structural thing,” Nellis said. “It’s not a fad or a temporary phenomenon. It’s the nature of our land base and our economy. So, the question now is what do we do about this? That is the adventure we’re about to embark upon.”