Consider that in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett metro area, incomes grew 71% between 1990 and 2006 but home values soared 173%.  The median price for a single-family home in Seattle topped the half-million-dollar mark for the first time in August 2007. That price, $501,000, was up 10.1 percent from $455,000 in 2006.

In 2006, the typical single person in Seattle earned enough to buy a home for just under $200,000, while the typical family of four had enough to pay just over $280,000, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  On the Eastside, a worker needs to earn nearly $152,000 a year to afford the median priced house. 

Those already with homes or apartments are also being squeezed.  According to the latest Census Bureau statistics for King County, 41% of homeowners with mortgages and 45% of renters in King County are spending 30 percent or more of their household income on housing, the long held standard for judging whether housing costs were reasonable.

The worsening situation becomes even more dramatic when we consider that many workers in order to qualify for housing will buy in locations at a distance from where they work.  However, this move adds to their transportation costs.  For working families, the combined costs of housing and transportation account for 61% of the household budget, on average.    

Among the most significant factors is the supply of low-income housing units has not kept pace with demand, particularly as population continues to grow from in-migration.  Public dollars to help with the development of low-incoming housing are also in short supply.  As the economy worsens, demand for low-income housing is likely to spike but the impact on supply is less certain.  Some rental properties have gone into foreclosure, resulting in tenants being evicted.  

Also, until at least recently, the number of jobs relative to housing units in King County exceeded the balanced ratio, putting upward pressure on housing prices.  Added to that, the number of hours people needed to work to afford a median-priced house also climbed.  In general, strong economy growth, the benefits of which are unevenly distributed, will negatively affect housing affordability. 

A long term growth trend in median house size has contributed to the shortage of affordable housing by increasing land prices.  Construction costs have also gone up consistently.  Median home prices declined in 2008 for the first time since 1991 as an effect of the mortgage crisis.  Unfortunately, this decline represents a loss in value to existing homeowners. 

One potentially favorable trend for increasing the stock of low-income housing is a shift from single family residential to more mixed use developments in response to changes in land use patterns. 

One of the clearest effects is that Puget Sounders have longer work commutes as they move out of urban centers in order to find an affordable home or apartment.  Longer commutes have a host of environmental side-effects such as more greenhouse gases and road congestion.  Sprawl also leads to the loss of farmland and forests. 

The personal costs of an affordable housing shortage are huge as well.  Longer commute times mean less time for families and friends and other forms of social engagement.  Neighborhoods without a diversity of housing options and prices are less likely to offer a diversity of races, cultures and ethnic backgrounds that mixed-income housing supports.  Rising home costs change the demographics of our neighborhoods.  Long-time residents and senior citizens may no longer be able to afford their apartments or property taxes on their houses.  Lower income individuals are forced to find homes away from the neighborhoods where they grew up.

The increasing financial squeeze of rising housing costs on low and middle income homeowners and renters also means less money is available for all sorts of important needs, including food, clothing, retirement savings, education, and housing maintenance.  

Perhaps the most devastating impact of a lack of affordable housing is homelessness.  It's clear that strategies to address homelessness need to include preserving and increasing our stock of transitional and permanent housing for those with low and very low incomes.