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Press Release

November 3, 2005

Contact:
Sandy Carson, Solano Housing Coalition, 707-421-4840
Kate O'Hara, Greenbelt Alliance, 510-743-9430
Evelyn Stivers, Non-Profit Housing Assoc. of No. California, 415-989-8160

New Report Finds Solano Housing Market is Unbalanced, Unaffordable

In Spite of County's Rapid Growth, Most Homes Too Expensive

FAIRFIELD—Solano County is one of the Bay Area's fastest-growing counties, but the housing growth is not providing the homes local people need, according to a report released today by the Solano Housing Coalition, Greenbelt Alliance, and the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California.

The report, Through the Roof: Solano County's Housing Crisis, includes the following facts:

• In January 2005, the California Association of Realtors found that 80 percent of Solano County residents could not afford to buy the median-priced house (which cost $389,000 in January; by September 2005 it cost $481,000).
• According to a recent Consumer Reports study, the Fairfield-Vallejo housing market is the ninth most overpriced market in the country—and the second most overpriced market in the Bay Area, based on the difference between families' incomes and local home prices. The average family would have to earn 51 percent more than it now does to afford the average home.
• Between 1999 and 2003, Solano County and its seven cities built 275 percent of the market-rate houses needed, but only 34 percent of the homes needed for families earning the median income ($73,900) and below.
• By adopting policies, like inclusionary housing, communities in Solano County could substantially increase the supply of affordable housing. Between 1999 and 2003, only half of the needed affordable housing was built in Fairfield, Vallejo, and Vacaville. With inclusionary policies requiring 20 percent of new homes to be affordable, these cities would have met 91 percent of the need.

The housing situation in Solano is reducing the county's quality of life, say advocates. "Solano County public employees are unable to find homes they can afford here. As a result, people are moving out of Solano and commuting in to their jobs," said Art Grubel, Executive Director of Service Employees International Union, Local 1280, a member of the Solano Housing Coalition. The long commutes are tough on workers and their families, and they worsen traffic and air quality.

The search for housing also fuels development in remote areas. "Solano's housing crisis is increasing the pressure to pave the greenbelt," said Tom Steinbach, Executive Director of Greenbelt Alliance, the regional land conservation and urban planning organization. "To protect working farms and natural areas, we have to build affordable homes within our cities."

To address the problem, the report recommends that Solano's largest cities adopt inclusionary housing ordinances. Many California cities have these policies, which require all new residential development to include a percentage of affordable homes. Because they take advantage of the county's rapid growth, the policies would go a long way toward meeting the housing need.

"Inclusionary housing has a proven track record of providing better housing choices. Communities in Solano can use this policy to provide better housing options and build stronger communities for the future," said Evelyn Stivers, Campaign Coordinator for Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California.

About the Solano Housing Coalition
The Solano Housing Coalition is a diverse group of organizations and interests working to increase the stock of housing affordable to families and individuals in our communities.

About NPH
Since 1979, the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California (NPH) has worked to advance affordable housing as the foundation for thriving individuals, families and neighborhoods. www.nonprofithousing.org

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For 50 years, Greenbelt Alliance has been the San Francisco Bay Area's advocate for open spaces and vibrant places, with offices in San Francisco, San Jose, Walnut Creek, Fairfield, and Santa Rosa. www.greenbelt.org