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Data: Incomes too low to sustain home prices

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Since 1990, homeowners have faced a growing gap between their incomes and the price of their homes, according to Census data.

The widening gap in all but a handful of the nation's 500 largest cities helped make the recent boom in housing prices unsustainable, according to analysts. The rising prices were fueled largely by low interest rates and risky borrowing, rather than increasing incomes.

"We had an artificial economy," said Brad Geisen, founder of Foreclosure.com, a Web site that lists foreclosure properties. "There was all this wealth created in real estate, and it wasn't really created."

Nationally, the median household income grew about 60 percent from 1990 to 2006, roughly matching inflation. The median home value -- the point at which half were more and half were less -- more than doubled, to $185,200.

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Housing takes bigger bite out of income
Household income is up in Orange County, but so are home prices, rent.
By JENNIFER MUIR and JEFF COLLINS
The Orange County Register

Housing is taking a bigger bite out of household incomes in Orange County, costing renters and most homeowners 5 percent more than it did just seven years ago, new Census figures released Wednesday show.

Rent and utilities ate up 32.5 percent of household income for tenants here in 2006, up from 27.5 percent in 1999, the Census report shows. Loan payments, insurance, utilities and other housing costs for homeowners still paying a mortgage consumed 30.2 percent of their household income, up from 25.1 percent in 1999.

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