Hartford workers Bill and Janine Vanark recently “consecrated” a muddy patch of ground where their longtime dream is due to materialize in August.
“One of our dreams was to be able to afford a house, and another was to build our own. We got it all in the same package and we’re only five minutes from work,” said Bill Vanark, 38, of the $120,000, 3-bedroom ranch house being built by Janesville-based Brookstone Homes.
The Vanarks have lived in Hartford 10 years, earning a good living at Quad/Graphics. He’s in the paper warehousing department; she’s in the press quality control department.
But with six children, “we thought we’d never be able to buy,” he said.
Prairie Crossing, an 80-acre subdivision of moderate-cost, high-density housing, changed all that. Brookstone bought 68 parcels for single-family homes starting at $99,500 and began taking orders in February. In five weeks, the company sold 30 homes, more than many builders sell in a year.
The Vanarks, among the 30 buyers, had a private champagne celebration on their land after closing the deal. “The house won’t be ready ’til August,” Bill Vanark said, “and we’re just doing colors and financing now, but we like to just go over and sneak a peek at where we’ll be.”
Of Prairie Crossing’s brisk sales pace, sales manager John Scheurman said, “It shows the tremendous lack of affordable housing here. A third or more of buyers are working in Hartford. We’re also drawing some from Waukesha and Germantown who are able to get more house for their budget here. There are so many people out there who thought owning a new home was beyond their reach.”
Prairie Crossing is a godsend not just to middle-income families like the Vanarks, but to Hartford’s economy, said Werner X. Wolpert, executive director of Hartford Development Corp.
“We’ve got 4,000 industrial jobs in Hartford and hardly 10,000 people. Industries find it hard to get labor, and so we’re busing people in. But a 20-, 30-mile drive is not a good long-term solution. We use a live-where-you-work model, and that means meeting the need for starter homes,” Wolpert said.
Communities throughout Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee counties face a similar, striking gap between workforce salaries and average house prices.
“When you look at these counties surrounding Milwaukee, you see their median purchase prices are among the highest in the state,” said Scott Fergus, executive director of Community Housing Initiative in Waukesha.
“In Waukesha County, (the median home price) was more than $155,000 last year; in Ozaukee, over $160,000; in Washington, almost $136,000. You’d have to have an income of $55,000 or better to afford them, but when you look at the wage base, it’s $9 to $15 an hour.”
That includes, he said, “both the entry-level, at $7 to $9 hourly, and the bedrock of most businesses, (people) earning $10 to $15 hourly,” he said.
At those wages, even two-income households find much of the housing market too pricey for their budgets, Fergus said.
Such people are hardly poor, but public and private officials studiously avoid using the term “affordable housing” to define what’s needed to narrow the worker income-housing price gap.
That phrase “affordable” has inflamed people from Brookfield to Mequon. A week ago, it catalyzed a “property-values-will-fall” outcry in Mukwonago when Habitat for Humanity announced plans to build one $125,000 house for a $40,000 income family, which by local standards meets Habitat’s “needy” requirement.
“Affordable is one of those terms with many layers,” said John Englehardt, research director at Wisconsin Realtors Association in Madison.
Two common industry definitions of “affordable housing” are: A dwelling within the financial reach of someone who earns 80 percent of the local median income.
The metro-area median household income in 1997 was $53,900, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. By that measure, a family earning $43,120, or 80 percent of the metro median, would qualify for an affordable housing program.
Housing that requires no more than 30 percent of a household’s income to purchase.
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By either definition, Englehardt said, “We’ve really been seeing the crunch the last three years in Madison and Milwaukee.
“It’s a whole circle: The developer can’t build lower-cost housing because of zoning restrictions; that puts pressure on the lower-cost housing already there so that stuff goes at a premium. The seller can get maximum price, but of course, lots of buyers are shut out of the market.”
Led by growth leader Waukesha County, some metro Milwaukee communities are acting to alleviate the affordable housing crunch.
Public-private ventures have resulted in 55 new homes of $100,000 to $120,000 in Waukesha County since 1995, Fergus noted, and Washington County’s Hartford has two similarly priced housing projects under way.
The situation could improve dramatically once a three-county housing consortium goes into business June 1, with nearly a $2 million public-private budget to help qualifying residents with house purchase down payments, closing costs or rehabilitation loans.
Waukesha, Washington and Jefferson counties are members of the consortium. Ozaukee County was expected to join, decided against it and now is reconsidering.
Fergus’ group will administer what has been named the Tri-County Home Consortium.
“Our goal is to provide some modest assistance. Will it be enough? We think it can be. The biggest challenge continues to be finding appropriate zoning. Larger lot sizes are one of the biggest impediments.”
Fergus said there’s no doubt in his mind the interest is there among average working people.