What’s the solution to ridiculously high home prices in Seattle? Why, government programs, of course!
Some programs available here max out annually but others remain untapped, leaving thousands of dollars in assistance available to people earning as much as 80 percent of the $72,000 median household income in the Seattle metropolitan area. That currently translates to $40,600 a year for an individual and $58,000 for a family of four. Most programs offer deferred payments with low interest rates, and frequently provide up to $45,000 to help with a down payment.
…
Washington state ranks near the bottom — 43rd out of 50 — in home-ownership rates nationwide, according to the 2004 Census. Sixty-six percent of households in the state are homeowners. Analysts attribute the low numbers not only to soaring home values in the Seattle area, but also to the state’s numerous military communities, which tend to have lower numbers of homeowners.The Washington Homeownership Center wants to improve those rates by reaching out to the estimated 300,000 renter households statewide making at least half the median income. Those include many people under age 35, as well as teachers, police officers, firefighters and skilled laborers — the people that Jeffrey Caden refers to as "the glue that kind of holds our state together."
Things like these programs really seem like spitting into the wind when average to below-average houses cost $300,000-$400,000. Even if you get $45,000 for a down payment, you’re still $15,000-$35,000 short, which most people don’t have laying around, even if they make $72,000. And I won’t even begin to get into how unaffordable the monthly payment would be even if you came up with a down payment. It’s really just ridiculous right now, and I don’t see how these programs do anything other than encourage people to get into a situation that they can’t reasonably financially sustain.
(Deborah Bach, Seattle P-I, 02.28.2006)