Housing costs rise while median family incomes cannot keep up, affecting housing in DeKalb and Sycamore.

A DeKalb County Housing Action Coalition report was recently compiled with complimentary reports from the Housing Authority of DeKalb County and the City of DeKalb. The information was gathered by examining census data, county records and local real-estate association sales records.

“From 2000 to 2006, the average sales price of homes in DeKalb County increased by over 50 percent from $138,000 to $212,000, while median family income rose less than 13 percent,” according to the report.

The report also stated both new and existing homes that have been sold in the last six years exceed in cost what many families, even those with two incomes, could pay without exceeding 30 percent of their income. Currently, a sizable percentage of those already housed are spending more than the recommended 30 percent of their income on housing costs.

“This increasing gap between wages and housing costs can slow the ability of both county and municipalities to attract new businesses and industries,” the release also said.

The situation may not be dire, though.

“I don’t think it is going to have an immediate effect on anyone,” said Sue Guio, community services planner in DeKalb. “It will help provide direction for future housing development.”

The release called for organizing a DeKalb County Wide Housing Summit to discuss ways housing and housing costs could affect the county in the future and examine different options to preserve and expand work-force housing.

Some may think that having such vast numbers of subsidized housing in the area would hurt business, but it actually can be beneficial in some aspects, according to Guio.

“Having affordable housing for prospective employees is actually very beneficial for employers,” Guio said.

With such a large number of affordable housing in one city in the county, Guio did hope that when developers want to develop more affordable housing in the area, they would spread it out more within the county.

Terri Pourahmadi, a broker associate at McCabe Realtors, has seen changes in purchasing houses as well.

“We’re seeing a longer average market time for the home to have a contract and close,” Pourahmadi said. “It’s looking that it takes another four to six weeks to sell than a year ago or more.”

-41 percent of total households in DeKalb county are located in DeKalb,

-44 percent of the total population in DeKalb County is located in DeKalb.

-80 percent of subsidized housing in DeKalb County is located solely in the city of DeKalb.

Source: Sue Guio and DeKalb County Housing Action Coalition report

The average six month, November through May, market time in 2006 was 89 days in DeKalb and Sycamore, while in 2007 it was 123 days.

In the six month period in 2006, 67.8 percent of all residential properties were closed, while in 2007, 57.2 percent were closed.

The average sale price in a six month period 2006 was $203,157 and in 2007 it was $206,794, resulting in a 1.8 percent increase.

Source: Terri Pourahmadi, McCabe Relators