How did Gila County rank in the 2008 Colorado College State of the Rockies Report Card on housing affordability? Gila County had a grade similar to the majority of Arizona’s counties with a D.
Nine of Arizona's 15 counties received a 'D' or 'D+'; only 2 counties received an 'A' or'A-.' Apache county was given an A-, while Greenlee county received the A. The largest county, Maricopa, received a 'B'; the second 2 largest, Pima & Pinal, both received a 'D.'
In the entire Rocky Mountain region, 8% of the counties received a 'D+' & 7% received a 'D'; 8% of counties earned an 'A' & 8% earned an 'A-.'
High housing appreciation rates & a large population influx combine to make affordable housing a particular challenge in the Rockies. In addition, the region receives proportionally less federal funding for affordable housing compared to other regions in the nation. Increasing rates of immigration & the recent sub-prime lending crisis will further exacerbate the shortage of affordable rental units. Affordable housing is crucial to maintaining healthy communities & economies, particularly in resort communities, which depend on a large working class to support the service industry.
These are among the findings of the 5th annual State of the Rockies Report Card, which was released this week at the Colorado College State of the Rockies Conference. The "Affordable Housing" section of the 2008 State of the Rockies Report Card grades every county in the 8-state Rocky Mountain region - Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah & Wyoming county - on housing affordability.
Affordability was determined as the difference between the fair-market rent for a 2-bedroom housing unit & the rental rate that is affordable at the county renter median household income. These data are collected by the Census Bureau & the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Renter median household income was multiplied by 0.3, as HUD suggests rent exceeding 30% of income is unaffordable. Before counties were graded, they were sorted into 1 of 3 categories: metropolitan, micropolitan & rural. The challenges of providing affordable housing in a city are different than those in a rural or resort community, thus it is important to compare each county only to its peers.
The highest grade obtainable was an 'A,' with a percentile earning of 93%-100%, while the lowest grade given was a 'D,' with a percentile earning of 0%-27%.
The individual overall grades for the counties in Arizona are:
Apache - A-
Cochise - C+
Coconino - D
Gila - D
Graham - D
Greenlee - A
La Paz - C-
Maricopa - B-
Mohave - C
Navajo - D+
Pima - D
Pinal - D
Santa Cruz - D
Yavapai - D
Yuma - D+
Other Arizona highlights in the report:
HUD budget cuts have had immediate effects:
* In Phoenix, more than 13,000 people are waiting to move into public housing units.
* Despite a long waiting list, as of July 1st, 2007, nearly 250 public housing units stood vacant because HUD budget cuts forced Phoenix to lay off 30 percent of its housing staff responsible for processing public housing applications.
* Nearly 59% of all households in Arizona are living with the risk of lead-based paint.
* Less than 28 units per 100 extremely low-income households are affordable &d available in Arizona & Nevada.
* In Flagstaff, land prices, rather than expensive second homes, are the cause of the affordability crunch.
* Phoenix experienced a 29% drop in new housing permits in 2006.
* Arizona has seen a decrease in residential housing starts, but single-family home prices are not dropping enough to solve the affordable housing crunch.