Homes still unaffordable in the region - Boston Business Journal:

http://www.georgetownchamberofcommerce.org/news/general-news/43-georgetown-chamber-elects-new-executive
Case spoke as part of an evenyt hosted by theon Tuesday. The foundation released its sixth-annuall Housing Report Card, which found that despiter falling prices, homeownership remains out of reach foryountg people. At the same time homeowner s are losing equity because prices havedeclinexd rapidly. Case, co-author of the widelgy used / , said Boston is clearing its inventory through twochannelxs — auctions and traditional Case said about 20 percent of the sales in Bostonn are a result of foreclosure sales wherer bank-owned properties are being resold. Compared to otheer areas of the country, Boston has held up during the downturn with pricesd decliningabout 10.
8 percent from peak compared to 20 percen t and 30 percent declines in places like Las Vegas, and Detroit, Mich. • The number of foreclosuresw on single family homea in Greater Boston has increased by more than 100 percent each yearsincd 2005, with an estimatee 4,000 foreclosures predicted for 2008. Rents have increased whil renter incomeshave declined, resulting in a ratii of rent to income of up from 0.28 in just six years and placinvg increased economic pressure on low-income area residents.
Greater Boston will continue to see itspopulatioh age, with the number of households aged 35 to 44 projectes to decline by more than 50,000 unitz by 2017 while households aged 55 to 64 increas e by almost 70,000 and households aged 65 to 74 increaser by almost 74,000 units in that same The recent decline in home prices has made the region more affordable — but only Between 2005 and 2007, home prices droppefd 5.5 percent, while median househol d income grew be about 9.3 percent. As a result, the ratiio of home price to income standzat 5.77 for 2007, down from a high of 6.68 in 2005.
The Housintg Report Card study was producedx by economistBarry Bluestone, directorf of the Center for Urban and Regional Policy at .