Report: Housing Costs in Minnesota Continue to Outpace Wages
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
July 22, 2010
ST. PAUL, Minn. - A new statewide survey out this week finds that housing costs in Minnesota continue to outpace wages. Rural Minnesota is experiencing some of the highest housing increases and rental shortages, due in large part to the recession and foreclosure crisis, according to a county-by-county analysis from the Minnesota Housing Partnership.
Leigh Rosenberg, the Partnership's research and outreach manager, says many jobs that have traditionally paid a living wage no longer do, such as teaching, law enforcement, retail sales and food preparation. While the study found home ownership was out-of-reach - as expected - for some of the workers, it also found that even rental trends looked bleak.
"There was no county in Minnesota in which all of the types of workers we looked at were able to afford to rent a typical two-bedroom apartment."
The state also saw an increase in households that are considered "extremely cost-burdened." Approximately 22 percent of renters and 10 percent of homeowners paid at least half of their income on housing.
Rental cost increases were more pronounced outside of the Twin Cities area, with the biggest hikes in Dodge, Pine, Kanabec, Mille Lacs and Le Sueur Counties. Rosenberg says the recession has resulted in a severe shortage of available rentals for a number of rural counties.
"In the wake of the foreclosure crisis when a number of families have lost their homes and no longer have access to credit to be able to buy a new one, it can mean that they end up having to pay far more than they really can afford because rental costs are so high, especially in proportion to what jobs pay in more rural counties."
Rosenberg hopes the report serves as a reminder to lawmakers that safety nets like unemployment are vital.
"Especially now as we head into elections in November, we really recommend talking to candidates about what they plan to do to make sure Minnesotans have both safe and affordable housing."
The report showed that, during the peak foreclosure crisis from 2005-2009, Minnesota had more than 87,000 foreclosures, with 26 percent occurring in 2009. The most common reason people sought foreclosure prevention counseling in the past year was due to job loss or reduced income. The data is online at www.mhponline.org/research/county-profiles.