Trust Makes Homes Affordable for Martha's Vineyard Residents

Since 2004, a nonprofit community land trust has helped more than 40 Martha's Vineyard families, with average incomes of $45,000 to $65,000 a year, to buy their first homes here.

"What we do is absorb most or all of the market-rate value, so that instead of being shut out of market-rate housing costing $400,000 or $500,000, a home buyer is abe to buy a home — depending on their means — for between $150,000 and $300,000," says Philippe Jordi, executive director of the Island Housing Trust.

These homebuyers must agree that when they move out of the property, "they'll sell to another qualified family for an affordable price," Jordi says in a video released to accompany the housing trust's annual report.

The trust's work is funded by grants and donations, which more than tripled from 2011 to 2012, according to the report.

For more about the Island Housing Trust, please see the video and annual report accompanying this post and visit the website at ihtmv.org.

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