Tuesday, May 17, 2011

NC Housing Landscape

In February, the Center for Housing Policy (CHP) published the Housing Landscape 2011. CHP found that nationally, housing affordability worsened significantly between 2008 and 2009 for working households. Working households are defined as those with incomes no higher than 120 percent of the median income in their area. In the United States, 10.5 million working households had a severe housing cost burden in 2009, which is an increase of almost 600,000 since 2008. A severe housing cost burden means the household is spending more than 50 percent of their income on housing costs.

According to CHP, North Carolina is one of the 25 states that had a significant increase in the share of working households with severe housing cost burden. Twenty percent of working households in North Carolina have a severe housing cost burden. North Carolinians who spend so much on their housing costs often have little left over for other essentials such as food, medical costs, transportation, and child care.

To view national and state statistics from the Center for Housing Policy's Housing Landscape 2011 click here.

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