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$47.700. With the county's median family income at $47.700, the upper end of the low income range is $38,160. Very low income households are those with incomes below $23.850. According to the Indian River County Board of Realtors. the median price of housing units sold in the county in 2000 was $112.000. This includes both new and existing housing units. Based upon the commonly accepted standard that a household can afford a housing unit whose cost is approximately twice its annual income. it is estimated that the low income households with the highest income can afford a house of $76.320, while the highest income very low income households can afford a housing unit costing only $47,700. To afford to purchase a house selling for the county's median price, a household would need an income of $56.000. an amount more than 30 percent higher than the top of the low income range. Table 9 shows the county's 1980 and 1990 median monthly housing costs and median household incomes in those years. As shown in Table 9. the median housing cost increased at a faster rate than the median household income from 1980 to 1990. It is likely that 2000 census data will show a similar trend of incomes rising slower than housing costs. TABLE 9 COMPARISON OF MEDIAN MONTHLY HOUSING COSTS AND MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOMES IN INDIAN RIVER COUNTY 1980 AND 1990 Housing Indicators 1980 1990 Median Monthly Housing Cost towner-occupmd) Median Household Income Source: U.S. Census Bureau. 1980 and 1990 ANALYSIS 5331 515.072 5666 % Increase 101 528.961 92 As indicated in the existing conditions section of this report. the private sector is not meeting the affordable housing needs ofindian River County. That, however, is not unique to this area. There are similar affordable housing problems at both the state and national levels. There are a number of reasons for the affordable housing problem. One reason is that housing cost has been rising faster than income levels. To an extent. local government is one reason that housing costs are higher. Because of zoning restrictions, subdivision requirements, building code provisions. impact fees. and other regulations, housing costs are higher. Also, land costs, building material costs. labor costs, and financing, all add to the cost of new housing units On the income side of the housing affordability issue. there are similar problems. One is that there are many low-paying jobs in the county. Many of these are in the agriculture and service industries. Another problem is evident from reviewing the demographic makeup of the county's affordable housing projects. As indicated in Table 7, the majority of tenants in the county's affordable housing projects are female -headed households. These households will generally have lower incomes and more affordability problems. February 13, 2001 105 BKII7PG117