Agenda - 04-01-1992 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Availability of land and utility capacity does not limit future production of affordable rental housing in northern Orange County; however, such development may be limited by the over 100 units of rental housing currently proposed to be built using Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Until those units are completed and occupied, additional construction of rental housing will be deterred by market absorption. However, the majority of those units will be 2- bedroom, continuing the need for appropriate -size housing for larger families. Also, the proposed units will be affordable to lower income families, but the need for rental units for very low income families is still unmet in the northern Orange County market area. No loss of assisted rental stock is anticipated in Orange County within the next five years. Homeownership Market. Orange County has the highest cost of new housing development in North Carolina. The average new home sales price in 1991 was $143,577. To afford that new home, a family would need income in excess of $60,000, or 130% of the area median. In the Town of Chapel Hill, the 1991 average new single - family home sales price is $165,082, which could be purchased by a family with an income of about $68,000. Among cities statewide, the average new home sales price is $125,500. A recent look at the Multiple Listing Service revealed only 38 single- family houses in the Chapel Hill - Carrboro School District listed at prices below $100,000. A family at 80% of the area median, or $35,120, can afford a mortgage payment of approximately $650, or a mortgage of about $80,000. Even with a large downpayment, the available housing in Chapel Hill and Carrboro is beyond the reach of low- income families. Homeownership assistance efforts undertaken by the Town of Chapel Hill have resulted in housing being developed that is affordable to families with 70% to 80% of the area median income, even with second mortgages from the Town, assistance from the County and special first mortgages from the N.C. Housing Finance Agency. With such high costs of development, producing new homeownership opportunities will be impossible without assistance from local governments. In addition to new construction, existing low income homeowners continue to need assistance in order to rehabilitate and maintain their homes. One -third of the housing stock in Orange County is over thirty years old, and many of those units are owned by low- and fixed - income owners who cannot afford to rehabilitate their homes. Particularly in Carrboro, Northside and Pine Knolls neighborhoods in Chapel Hill, and certain parts of rural Orange County, rehabilitation is a viable option for 12