Study: Many professionals can’t afford home here

Stephen Curran

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 | 11:03 a.m.

The rising cost of housing in Clark County has made buying the average house a dream for the middle-income professionals, once considered shoo-ins for home ownership, Clark County officials said Tuesday.

In its annual study on affordable housing, the county Redevelopment Agency found that the average computer programmer, registered nurse, civil engineer or accountant would likely find an entry-level home with a pricetag now averaging $250,000 out of reach, Lesa Coder, the redevelopment agency's operations director, told commissioners.

"That's if they can find one," at that price, Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams said. "I don't think people understand who cannot afford a $250,000 house. It really is amazing."

That means if buying an existing home is a daydream, a newly built home at an average of $305,000 is the stuff of fantasy for most valley residents, she said.

With annual incomes averaging between $42,000 and a little more than $70,000, those professionals would qualify, at most, for a mortgage of about $219,000, Coder said. According to the county's study, a family would need to bring home about $77,000 to buy the average house.

For those would-be buyers, the phrase "affordable housing" itself may be problematic because it is often confused for government-subsidized property, Williams said.

"We have a semantic problem," she said. "Most people, when you're talking about 'affordable housing,' think you're talking about Section 8 housing."

The board later approved a motion 6-0 setting up a pilot program using land secured under the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act for housing deemed affordable. The move sets aside 5 acres near Jones Boulevard and Harmon Avenue for housing geared toward senior citizens of limited means.

The motion was unanimous. Commissioner Chip Maxfield was absent.

Commissioners also unanimously voted to sign a resolution supporting the creation of more affordable housing. Coder also recommended they look at establishing a trust fund for middle-income homebuyers and consider a fee for developers wanting to build the kind of high-end properties that cater to wealthier buyers.

The commission last month approved an ordinance allowing for "accessory apartments" in certain neighborhoods, a move to provide affordable housing for owners with elderly parents or those with grown children living at home, county officials said.

"This really is a jumping-off point," Coder said. "All things are possible, and all options need to be explored. There is an ever-increasing need to do something."

Commissioner Lynette Boggs McDonald encouraged county officials not to penalize builders who might otherwise join the county's effort to build more affordable housing.

"There's no such thing as altruistic capitalism," she said.

Terry Murphy, a consultant working on behalf of several builders, said the matter was "very much on their (builders') minds" and that many of her clients would be willing to work with county officials.

It's a problem county leaders only a few years ago did not think they would face, Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates said, adding, "Who'd have thought that little old Clark County would be as popular as it is today?"