The housing struggle

GLOBE EDITORIAL - The Boston Globe: "GOT MONEY? That's the increasingly pressing question facing Americans who want to buy homes. Median housing prices have risen 20 percent nationally from 2003 to 2005, but salaries are lagging, according to research from the Center for Housing Policy, a nonprofit organization in Washington.

The center puts human faces on the problem by comparing earnings in 63 occupations with median housing costs in 183 metropolitan areas. A website creates graphs that show who can afford what, assuming people spend 30 percent of their income on housing.

For example, the median income of registered nurses living in Boston is just over $61,000. But to afford a house in Boston, where the median price is $335,000, a nurse would have to earn $112,581.

One solution is to add another income by getting married -- to someone earning about $52,000. But based on median salaries, this could mean refusing to wed a number of workers, including police officers, accountants, carpenters, electricians, and plumbers.

Worcester real estate isn't as pricey as Boston's, but to afford a median-priced house costing $240,000, buyers would have to earn more than $76,000. That's more than the average of earnings of the area's auto mechanics, graphic designers, and hairdressers.

For those willing to relocate, Florida has been a popular choice. But prices are climbing there, too. In West Palm Beach, median housing prices rose 32 percent from 2003 to 2005 -- from $185,000 to $245,000. This could be good news for rich retirees from high-priced states, but it hurts workers who haven't had 32 percent salary increases.

Nationally, the median price of a home is $225,000. To afford this, a buyer would have to earn some $71,000, leaving out many workers and their families.

This isn't just bad personal news; it's an economic problem. Boston needs skilled workers, from nurses who keep the healthcare industry flourishing to plumbers and electricians who help build the city's homes and offices. And while marriage is an option for some people, single parents and their children should not be limited to apartment living because they don't have access to a spouse's second income.

People who don't own homes lose out on a simple wealth-builder: the fact that the value of their home will typically increase over time. And these assets can be passed on to children and grandchildren.

Buying a home in the exurbs is a common strategy for those who can tolerate long commutes into the city from distant but affordable communities. But this trend runs contrary to the goals of smart development.

The real estate bubble may yet burst, lowering, or at least moderating, housing prices. But the country needs more deliberate solutions. Too often ''affordable housing" conjures images of seedy, teeming buildings that lower a community's property values.

Legislators have to sell affordable housing not as a handout but as an economic engine -- a way to welcome workers from preschool teachers and chefs to professors, doctors, and other higher-income earners who say no to Boston jobs because of high housing costs.

Owning a home in a major city should be an opportunity to put down roots and build family wealth, not a contest that only the wealthiest competitors win."