Las Cruces is facing a crisis in an area that is not thought often considered: affordable housing. Newspaper articles focus on how the housing market is booming, but the rising prices of both existing and new housing are glossed over.

The following data are taken from a recent study by a policy graduate student from Harvard:

- In the last five years, residential resale prices increased 61% and newly constructed home prices increased 37%.

- The average price for a new single-family home is $219,729; for an existing home it is $149,662.

- The income necessary to buy an average house without being overly weighed down is $58,280 for a new house and $35,964 for an existing one.

According to the 2000 census, the average median income for Doña Ana County is $29,808.

The US Housing and Urban Development defines a family paying more than 30% of its income for housing as “cost-burdened”, meaning that overextended families are spending funds for expensive housing and not for education, health-care, insurance, savings, etc. The people in this category, including nurses, teachers, and fire/police personnel are vital to the health of our community.

This problem is not new in our state. In Santa Fe, many in the working class live other places because owning a house is not financially possible. This is contributing to traffic problems as people who work in Santa Fe have to commute from Albuquerque or Rio Rancho, where they can afford a house. The Santa Fe City Council and County Commission recently passed similar ordinances forcing any developer who constructs a subdivision to make 30% of their houses “affordable” (people making between 80-120% of the area median income can buy a house without being cost-burdened). Developers are obviously not happy with this rule.

Though we here in Doña Ana County are not faced with as serious a situation, we are quickly getting there. The sooner we apply solutions, the easier it will be to deal with the problem. The following are moderate housing concepts that should be looked at by local policy-makers:

Since a large factor in determining housing price is the size of its lot, developers should be allowed to build denser subdivisions. Not only will this keep prices down, but it can allow for less sprawl and more environmental/farmland protection if we promote more conservation easements. A conservation easement allows dense subdivisions on a large piece of land (giving developers a chance to sell more houses) if developers save a part as agriculture or open space.

- Since dense zoning requires infrastructure (water and sewer), policy-makers need to look at increasing the number of PUDs (Planned Unit Developments) used throughout the area. PUD’s allow land owners to use a governmental entity as security for infrastructure improvement bonds, and fees are charged to homebuyers to repay the bond. Though costs are passed on to the buyer, overall home prices will drop as denser subdivisions are built. This benefits both the developer and the buyer.

- Distance-based impact fees (only applicable in the direct area of new developments) would assist cities and the county in building roads, wastewater capabilities, and other infrastructure necessary for denser, more affordable subdivisions.

- Governmental donation of land reserved for affordable housing is another option to consider, as it will give a direct incentive for the construction of less-expensive housing. This concept was recently discussed for some of the BLM land located on the West Mesa of Las Cruces. Though a useful option, strict guidelines must be enforced so that only affordable housing is built.

- Along with land donation, deed restrictions only allowing prices for a house to rise a certain percentage every year should be considered for these developments. Otherwise, if a house is built in an affordable range but housing prices continue to escalate, within 2-3 years prices could once again be out of the range of the target population.

These are just some of the moderate policy options available. Although there are drastic alternatives, we have time to solve this problem with a reasonable approach. However, if we do not find reasonable ways of providing home ownership opportunities to our poor and working class residents soon, they will not be able to live here anymore. Let us learn from the mistakes our northern neighbors have made and implement measured solutions to this problem before it is too late.