Report: 30.9 Percent of Area Households Burdened by Housing Costs

Homeowner and rental costs keep increasing in the Philadelphia metro area, but the housing affordability crunch isn't as bad here as it is in many parts of the country.

Among all area households – homeowners and renters combined – 37.5 percent spend 30 percent to 50 percent of their income on housing costs. And 18.5 percent spend more than half their income on housing costs, according to a new study from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Research.

Overall, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Penn.-N.J.-Del ranks 82nd out of 381 metros nationwide for housing cost burdens.

Among Philly metro homeowner households, 30.9 percent are housing cost-burdened and 12.8 percent are severely housing cost-burdened. Philadelphia metro homeowners rank 55th out of 381 metros nationwide in terms of the housing cost burdens they bear.

Finding a home to rent that's affordable is also an issue. An estimated 51.4 percent of Philadelphia renters are housing cost-burdened, meaning they spend 30 to 50 percent of their income on housing costs. Another 30.5 percent are severely cost-burdened, spending more than half their income on housing costs.

Renters in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Penn.-N.J.-Del. metro area rank 122nd in housing cost burdens.
The Philadelphia metro median home cost, including single-family homes, condominiums and co-ops, was $194,700 as of May, up 2.4 percent from the year before, according to Zillow.

The Philly metro median rent value of $1,527 is up 1 percent on a year-over-year basis, according to Zillow.
Californians bear the heaviest housing costs, both rental and homeowner, relative to their incomes, the Harvard study found.

Among large metro areas, Los Angeles has the highest housing cost burden in the nation. Nearly half of all Los Angeles households are housing cost-burdened and almost 26 percent are severely housing cost-burdened.

Other large California metros struggling with housing affordability are San Diego, ranked fifth and San Bernardino-Riverside, sixth. In the past year, the median home value in Riverside has surged 25 percent, according to Zillow.

The Fresno metro was ranked eighth in terms of housing cost burdens; Monterey-Salinas was ninth; Oxnard-Ventura was 10th and Santa Barbara was 11th.