Affordable housing in Belfast

 Efforts are under way to address the high cost of housing in Belfast.

Belfast was declared Maine’s second least affordable community in 2003 in a State Housing Authority study, and the city formed an Affordable Housing Task Force a year ago to look into the matter.

Fully 53 percent of the renter households in Belfast couldn’t afford the median two-bedroom rent for 2006, the nearest full-year set of figures, according to figures from the State Housing Authority compiled by Bob King, senior research analyst.

The housing authority says renters shouldn’t spend more than 35 percent of their income on rent or they will become “rent-burdened.” The average cost of a two-bedroom apartment with utilities in Belfast was $725 per month with utilities, and the income needed to afford that price is $30,619.

The figures look worse for homebuyers.

“Fully 78 percent of Belfast households couldn’t afford the median priced home in 2006, while the corresponding figures for Waldo County was just over 59 percent and for the state, it was nearly 67 percent,” King wrote, using the 2006 figures.

- BarHarborTimes

Economic predictions

While not exactly a rosy outlook, the State may not be hit too hard by a national economic downturn. Though the 500 pound elephant is still the housing issue, with the state having an estimated 24,460 outstanding subprime loans, with over 5000 expected to be foreclosed over the next two years.

One saving grace can be found in the flip side of the state’s slow growth in recent years, said Charles Colgan, an economist and professor at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service: Any economic dip will come from a less lofty perch.

If there’s a recession, “Maine will suffer from it, but it will be like the recession in the early part of this decade, where Maine was not hit as hard” as other parts of the country, Colgan said. – PressHerald

Housing sales down; prices up

Existing home sales were down in November to 891 from 991 (10%) a year ago, while though the medium price went up 2% to $188,000. This is better than the national average, which had sales down 20%, and the medium price went down 4% to $208,700. – AP