Agenda - 05-03-2000-9d - Laserfiche WebLink

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Community Profile In 2000, the population of Orange County is estimated to be 111,982. Of that number, approximately 77 percent were White, 16 percent were African American, and 7 percent were of other minority groups including American Indian, Asian, and Hispanic. The fastest growing segments of the population are of Asian and/or Hispanic descent whose population has more than doubled since 1993. Further, it is estimated that approximately 12,280 of all households in Orange County were considered .very low income, with incomes between 0-SO percent of median family income (MFI). With the exception of whites, a disproportionate percentage among all other racial groups was very low income, ranging from 37 percent of the Native-American population to 44 percent of the African-American population. HOUSING AND COMMUNl{TY DEVELOPMENT NEEDS Conditions The high cost of homeownership has forced many families to purchase housing in other counties and commute into Orange County for work. The inflation of the rental market by University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) students has caused hardships for families with incomes below 50 percent of MFI. Larger rental units are particularly scarce. Market Conditions According to the Orange County Economic Development Commission, the average new home sales in 1999 was $247,661, and for an existing home the price was $200,601. To purchase this new home a low income family of four persons would have to spend approximately 7.9 times their annual wages. For an existing home, the family would have to spend approximately 6.4 times their annual wages. In both of these instances, the low-income family need to have more money than they earn and is certainly well above the HUD standard for affordable housing. (U.S. Department of HUD standards define affordable owner occupied housing as purchasable at 2.5 to 3.0 times total family annual income.) The rental housing market, inflated by the ability of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students able to gay mazket rents, is beyond the means of families with incomes below 50% of the area median. In 2000, it is estimated that rental units represent 43% of the county-wide housing market and approximately 67% of those rental households experience an extreme cost burden -~ paying between 30°k to S0% of their income for rental housing. Each year, HUD publishes existing housing Fair Market Rents (FMRs) for metropolitan areas and non-metropolitan counties in the country. These FMRs are based on the fortieth percentile of standard quality rental units occupied by recent movers. Public housing units, newly constructed units, and substandard units ,are excluded from the calculations. FMRs are established by unit size (number of bedrooms) and include an allowance for utilities.