Increasing Housing Costs Could Price Out Arlington Residents

The results of a countywide poll and analysis revealed 40 percent of Arlington residents are likely to move out of the county in the next five years due to increasing housing costs.

According to the three-year Affordable Housing Study, Arlington rental prices are significantly outpacing the area’s rise in average income. For instance, most of the homes for sale in Arlington in 2013 average at around $450,000, which is only considered affordable to those with incomes above $100,000, the study reports.

Arlington County sponsored a telephone poll of 1,744 Arlingtonians conducted between April 23 and June 12 of this year. The poll revealed that most renters would like to buy a home in Arlington County, but 37 percent said their current housing costs are unaffordable. Many residents spend more than 30 percent of their gross income on housing; one in five spend more than half of their income on housing costs alone.

The report says the current landscape only works in favor of families and single-person renters with incomes above 80 percent of the area median income (about $60,000 for a single or $86,000 for household of four), while the homeownership market only favors higher-income households.

That’s according to an analysis of current and future housing needs by Lisa Sturtevant, from the National Housing Conference Center for Housing Policy and Jeannette Chapman of George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis. The analysis also notes that Arlington’s current stock of rental spaces is far below what is needed to meet the demand of renters with incomes below 60 percent of the median income.

In the past decade, Arlington home prices and rents have risen by 140 percent and 91 percent, respectively. Monthly rents in 2012 for a three-bedroom apartment averaged at $2,782, while the average efficiency apartment went for $1,422

Arlington already contributes more than $57 million to affordable housing options, but poll results reveal Arlington residents think this isn’t enough, especially for families with children, seniors and people with physical, mental or emotional disabilities.

The study’s findings will be presented for community discussion Monday night at Washington-Lee High School.

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