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Comprehensive Plan Housing Element At this time, the estimated mean (average) wage for a renter in Indian River County is $10.22 an hour. In order to afford the FMR for a two-bedroom apartment at this wage, a renter must work 55 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. Working 40 hours per week year-round, a household must include 1.4 workers earning the mean renter wage in order to make the two-bedroom FMR affordable. Currently, the monthly Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payment for an individual in Indian River County is $603. If SSI represents an individual's sole source of income, $181 in monthly rent is affordable, while the FMR for a one -bedroom apartment is $575. With the current decrease in housing prices and a decrease in the number of housing units being sold, the supply of rental units has increased and rents have gotten lower, making rents more affordable. - Affordability One measure of housing affordability is the home price/household income ratio, or housing cost as a percentage of income. The table below from the Central Florida Workforce Housing Toolkit relates the home price/household income ratio to housing affordability. Table 7.10 Housing Affordability Ratings Rating Home Price/Income Ratio Housing Cost as % of Income Severely Unaffordable 5.1 and more 51 % or higher Seriously Unaffordable 4.1 to 5.0 41%to 50% Moderately Unaffordable 3.1 to 4.0 31 % to 40% Affordable 3.0 or less 30% or less Source: Central Florida Workforce Housing Toolkit Based on the methodology from the Central Florida Workforce Housing Toolkit, the median sales price/household income ratios for Indian River County were calculated. As table 7.11 indicates, the prices of homes in the region were affordable through 2003. By 2005, however, home prices had become seriously unaffordable. In 2009, median housing prices decreased, and housing prices are now affordable again. In 2005, 2006, and 2007, affordable housing had become a significant issue for the region's workforce. With then current housing prices, households with one full-time worker or even two full- time workers often could not afford to live in the community where they worked. Consequently, many of the region's workers, including teachers, firefighters, service workers and others vital to the community, found themselves priced out of the housing market. That condition, however, does not exist at this time due to the recent decrease in housing costs. Even though Indian River County is now affordable based on its home price/income ratio, it is possible that the 2003 to 2007 affordability problems could occur again. Because those 2003 to 2007 affordability problems affected most of coastal Florida and because those problems can be attributed 20 Community Development Department Indian River County