Income and housing The conventional definition holds that housing is “affordable” if it can be bought or leased by those earning 80 percent of the median household income and spending 30 percent or less of their income on housing. In Boone County, this definition translates as follows:

A prospective home buyer at this household income level can expect to afford a home worth about $80,000:

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Columbia Planning and Development

Lora England graphic

Looking over the most recent list of homes for sale in Columbia this morning, Carol Van Gorp sees a common thread: They’re all expensive.

Until recently, she said, there was only one house listed for less than $100,000 within city limits. Now that’s gone, and the cheapest living quarters available in Columbia will cost you about $114,000 - and those are condos at Timber Creek, near Stadium Boulevard and Interstate 70.

"That kind of tells you how limited it is," Van Gorp, chief executive officer of the Columbia Board of Realtors, said of low-cost housing.

Faced with a problem that’s only expected to get worse, the city has commissioned a panel of bankers, builders, investment experts and others to study whether the city is facing a shortage of affordable housing and what can be done about it.

Among the charges of the 18-member Affordable Housing Policy Committee:

● Develop a policy on affordable housing to be added to the city’s long-term land-use planning document, Columbia Metro2020.

● Compile a report with recommendations for incentives, requirements and other suggestions "to produce and retain more affordable housing."

The effort comes after another committee completed a housing market analysis in 2004 that found "significant" barriers to renting or buying a home in Columbia.

The 2004 study found that land prices, city development regulations implemented, building codes, building permit fees and other charges drive up the cost of new homes. That cost is then passed on to the prospective buyer, the report said.

"Affordable housing is becoming more difficult" to find "in Columbia and across the country," City Manager Bill Watkins said this morning.

The housing committee also will work to define "affordable housing." The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development defines the term as housing that can be bought or leased by households earning 80 percent of the median income - about $37,400 in Columbia, according to the 2000 census - and spending no more than 30 percent of gross income on housing.

Annie Pope, executive director of the Home Builders Association of Columbia and a member of the committee, said the cost of new homes can be cut substantially by speeding the approval process for development plans and carefully weighing the need for additional regulatory measures.

Tom Lata, the city’s community development director, said the committee likely will examine grants and tax credits as a way to lower the cost of housing. A draft report from the committee could be finished by November.

Committee members are Jeff MacLellan, Rhonda Carlson, Mike Crist, Mike Gilbert, Wayne Huebert, Milton McHenry, Homer Page, Pope, Darrin Preis, Jim Schepers, Anthony Stanton, Phil Steinhaus, Steve Strawn, Al Tacker, Van Gorp, Kurt Wallace, Doug Wheeler and Traci Wilson-Kleekamp.