Housing Costs Consuming More of Paychecks

Housing Costs Consuming More of Paychecks

Housing costs ate up more of the monthly paycheck for millions of Americans in 2006 than the year before, despite signs of a slowdown in the housing market, according to figures made public recently by the Census Bureau.

The housing data describe the buildup of economic pressures before the recent wave of foreclosures, as lenders allowed home-buyers to borrow more money relative to their earnings and consumers borrowed or refinanced as if the market would never fall.  At the same time, incomes did not keep up with housing prices.

Nationally, half of renters and more than one third of mortgage holders spent at least 30 percent of their gross income on housing costs, the level many government agencies consider the limit of affordability.

The new data also show changes in the composition of households.  Homeownership continued to rise, while the percentage of households that could be described as nuclear families — two parents with children under 18 — continued its decline, to 22 percent last year, from 24 percent in 2000.  More families spoke a language other than English in their homes in 2006, when compared with the previous year, most often Spanish.

Fourteen percent of mortgage-holders spent at least half their income on housing in 2006, up from 13 percent last year, while among renters there was little change. In both years, 25 percent of renters spent half their income on housing.

The rising housing burden cuts into the money people have available for other expenses and therefore causes more anticipated rises in foreclosure ratess in coming months.