Affordable Housing Disappearing In D.C.
Despite the economic downturn, the cost of living in D.C. has rapidly increased over the past decade, according to a new report by think tank DC Fiscal Policy Institute.
Getting by on $750 for housing — which includes rent and utilities – has become increasingly difficult. The number of such apartments has decreased by more than half during the past decade, going from 70,600 in 2000, to 34,500 in 2010, according to the report.
Renters are more vulnerable to the forces of gentrification than homeowners, since renters don’t have equity to leverage as housing costs rise. But buying a house in D.C. has also become much more expensive over the past decade. The median home price in D.C. more than doubled since 2000, reaching $400,000 in 2010, according to the report.
More than half of the city’s population rents, and the D.C.-area is the tenth most expensive metro region in the nation for renters. People of color are more likely to rent than whites in D.C.; about the same number of whites own homes than rent them. Meanwhile, about double the number of blacks, Latinos and Asians rent their homes than own them.
- Source: Dcfpi
