A new report finds half the state’s renters and 34 percent of its homeowners remain “burdened” by housing costs, paying 30 percent or more of their income for housing. That’s helping drive safe, secure homes out of the reach of more and more households.
The Partnership for Strong Communities says in its report Connecticut housing costs continue to increase, remaining among the nation’s highest. The supply of housing that is affordable and available to working-class households continues to fall well short of demand, particularly in locations where high-resource schools, jobs and abundant services are available.
The report shows Connecticut has high housing costs. It said median home values remained the eighth highest in the nation at $267,200, while median monthly housing costs remained sixth highest. Statewide, 10 percent of the housing stock is affordable in only 32 of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities and Connecticut’s “housing wage” – the hourly pay needed to afford a typical two-bedroom apartment – rose to $24.29/hour in 2015 from $23.02 a year before, the eighth highest in the nation.
David Fink, the partnership’s policy director, said on the group’s website,”The muscular efforts by state leaders and housing advocates have produced measurable progress, but nagging housing price and supply problems continue to burden hundreds of thousands of households across the state.”
There have been some positive developments when it comes to homelessness, the report finds. It says there has been a 4 percent decline in households, an 11 percent decrease in the number of families and 12.5 percent decrease in children using emergency shelters and transitional housing. Annually, 3,000 people under the age of 25 experience homelessness in Connecticut.
