Housing Update: I am pleased to announce that Town Meeting voted to accept the New Housing Plan and Policy at our 2007 Annual Town Meeting. The support was overwhelming. I am proud to have served on the Citizen's Advisory Committee to the Housing Liaison Group and to have been able to work on this plan and policy for almost 2 years. I hope that my comments, questions and input, such as the Housing Distribution Study below, during this effort contributed to the success of this process. Please read the details of our work and the Plan itself by clicking here.  

Laurie

Housing Study (updated 10/30/05 click to download)

Framingham Housing Distribution

Summary

This is a study of Framingham’s housing and income distribution based upon the Fiscal Year 2003 property evaluations and the 2000 Census.

Framingham has 26,734 residential housing units. 13,202 are single family homes, 11,039 are multi family homes and 2,493 are condominiums.

According to the 2000 census, 55% of the housing stock was owner occupied and 45% was renter occupied.

According to the 2000 census, the 1999 median household income was $54,288. The median family income was $67,420. For the purposes of this study, I have used the lower valued household median income.

49.5% of Framingham’s single family homes were affordable to those earning the median household income of $54,288.  85% of our single family homes were affordable to those earning up to 150% of the 1999 median household income.

28% of Framingham’s condominiums were affordable to household earning 30% of the 1999 median household income of $54,288. 59% of the condos were affordable to those earning 50% of the median household income and 92% of the condos were affordable to those earning 80% of the median household income. Thus Framingham’s condominium supply was almost entirely affordable to those qualifying for subsidized housing according to the State and Federal guidelines.

Framingham had 11,639 rental units with rents reported in the 2000 census. The median rent was $835. 22% of rental units were affordable to those earning 30% of the median household income. 43.2% of the rental units were affordable to those earning 50% of the medina household income. 82% of the units were affordable to those earning 80% of the median household income. Thus Framingham’s supply of rental housing was almost entirely affordable to those qualifying for subsidized housing according to the State and Federal guidelines.

In addition, according to the Framingham Housing Authority at least 30% of these rentals are subsidized.

A comparison was done of the household and rental information from the 2000 census with the housing distribution and evaluations from the FY03 assessor’s list. I found that the number of households per income division compared to the number of residential units available for rent or purchase per income division, shows that in 2003 Framingham had a surplus of 4,977 units available to those earning less than 80% of the median household income when including subsidized units. This shows a high availability of affordable housing: one that is significantly higher than Framingham’s 10% 40B count.

This comparison also shows a housing deficit of 5,930 units for those earning greater than 150% of household median household income. This analysis shows a lack of opportunity for those who are in higher income brackets to “move up” in Framingham Thus higher income families who desire more expensive homes would need to leave Framingham.

Data:

The Fiscal Year 2003 property evaluations and the DP-1 Profile of General Demographic Characteristics for Framingham, 2000 Census data sets were used because they both offer the most recent complete set of information. The information available in the 2003 property evaluations is consistent with the 2000 census since the property values were based on 2001 sale prices. The margin of error between these years would be towards slightly higher property values.

Specific Questions Answered:

The following questions were asked and answered:

1. What is the distribution of housing in terms of single family homes, condominiums and multi-family homes. (page 3)
2. What is the price distribution of single family homes and what is the assessed median value for single family homes. (page 4)
3. What is the price distribution of condominiums and what is the assessed median condominium value. (page5)
4. What is the median household income and what are the guidelines for housing affordability? (page 6)
5. What price home can varying income levels afford to purchase based upon the median household income, the guidelines for housing affordability and a 30 year  mortgage at 6% interest ( Page 6)
6. How many single family homes are available for each income level to purchase based upon the price distribution of single family homes  and affordability guidelines (page 7,8)
7. How many condominiums are available for each income level to purchase based upon the price distribution of condominiums and affordability guidelines(page7,9)
8. What is the rental unit distribution based upon the 2000 census (page 10)
9. What is the affordability of rental units based % of median income (page 11, 12)
10. How many total housing units, rented and owned are affordable in each income division, according to the affordability guidelines, (page 13)
11. What is the distribution of households according to percentage of median income based on the 2000 census ( page 14)
12. How many housing units area are available for each income division (page 15)
13. How many households are there in each income division ( page 15)
14. What is the difference between the number of households per income division and the number of housing units affordable to those incomes (page 15,16)
15. How many subsidized units does Framingham have. (page16,17)
16. Conclusions of housing stock versus household affordability (page 17)

Single Family Home Distribution from Framingham’s FY03 property evaluations

Condominium Distribution from Framingham’s FY03 property evaluations

Housing Affordability

To determine housing affordability the following guidelines will be followed:

• The 1999 Median Household Income of $54,288 will be used
• The subsidized housing qualifications of earning less than 80% of Median Income will be followed
• State and Federal guidelines of 30-33% of income going towards housing shall be used

I followed the guidelines outlined by the Town of Weston in their 2004 study of Affordable Housing to determine what price home was affordable to the income brackets outlined in the chart.

Assumptions:

• Median Household Income for Framingham from 2000 Census $54,288
• 30 year Mortgage @ 6% interest
• PITI costs would be approximately 33% of income with the mortgage being 30%
• The homeowner would have 10% down payment
• Some sources suggest 30% of income on housing costs. According to MHP and CHAPA 33% is acceptable

To determine how many single family homes and how many condominiums are affordable to each income bracket, I counted the number of units for both single family homes (SFH) and Condominiums (Condo) for each income level.

Number of Housing Units Affordable per Income Division

The number and % of single family homes and condominiums affordable to these income brackets as charted below are pictured on page 8 and 9.

Rental Property Distribution according to the 2000 Census

Distribution of Rental Units from the 2000 Census:

The 2000 census lists the number of rented units per income bracket.

Specified renter-occupied units . . . . . . . . 11,639                100.0%

GROSS RENT

Less than $200 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 812         7.0%

$200 to $299 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 690         5.9%

$300 to $499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 969         8.3%

$500 to $749 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,204      18.9%

$750 to $999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,378      29.0%

$1,000 to $1,499 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,955      25.4%

$1,500 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291          2.5%

No cash rent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340         2.9%

To compare rental information from the 2000 Census with the FY03 Property distribution affordability charts, where the income levels were broken down according to the subsidized definitions using 30%, 50%, 80% 100% ranges, reformulating the census data was necessary.

To estimate the number of rentals per income level with bin divisions aligned with percentage of medina income levels, the census data was interpolated using a fitted curve.

These results are summarized in the following chart:

*note: this calculation is available upon request

Number of rental units per income division

Below is a chart summarizing how many housing units in terms of Single Family, Condominium and rentals are available per income division assuming a maximum monthly payment of 33% of income:  

Framingham has a total of 26,734 housing units. The total above exceeds this by 600 units. Single family units, houses or condominiums, which are also rented are counted twice in the above table, and are assumed to account for this difference.

For the purposes of this section of the study, I assume that those 600 units are condominiums.

To compare household information from the 2000 Census with the FY03 Property distribution affordability charts, where the income levels were broken down according to the subsidized definitions using 30%, 50%, 80% 100% ranges, reformulating the census data was again necessary.

The 2000 census, page 3, lists the number of households per income bracket.

INCOME IN 1999

Households. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,147               100.0 %

Less than $10,000. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,84             1 7.0 %

$10,000 to $14,999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,213            4.6 %

$15,000 to $24,999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,771            10.6 %

$25,000 to $34,999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,520            9.6 %

$35,000 to $49,999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,672            14.0 %

$50,000 to $74,999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,124            19.6 %

$75,000 to $99,999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,717            14.2 %

$100,000 to $149,999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,383            12.9 %

$150,000 to $199,999. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,098             4.2 %

$200,000 or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 808                3.1 %

To estimate the number of households per income level with bin divisions aligned with percentage of medina income levels, the census data was interpolated using a fitted curve.

These results are summarized in the following chart: