Could you afford to live in Sedona?

by Jessica Williamson, Associate Planner, City of Sedona

SEDONA, AZ - Oct 8, 208 - If you moved to Sedona today, could you afford to live here? Many of us who bought our homes before 2000 would likely have to say no, we couldn�t. Between 2000 and 2006 the median asking price of a home increased 77% while wages only increased 13%. It is not surprising that workers who provide essential community services and are the backbone of our local economy cannot afford to live in our community. According to business leaders, approximately two-thirds of their employees live outside the City limits, and only four of Sedona�s thirty police officers and one-third of City employees live in Sedona.

While home prices over the last year have fallen throughout the country, the effect in Sedona has been negligible. The median sales price of a single-family home in Sedona for the second quarter of 2008 was $540,250 and the median price of a condo/town house was $315,000. Mobile homes remain the most affordable housing type, but only two sold during the second quarter of 2008 for an average sales price of $141,500. While that is affordable to a household earning approximately $47,000 a year, it is virtually impossible to obtain financing for mobile homes unless it�s a cash offer.

Using the general rule of thumb that a household can afford to buy a home that is roughly three times their gross annual income, families would have to earn about $100,000 a year to afford a $300,000 home. Homes at that price are simply not affordable to the vast majority of Sedona�s workforce.

For rentals, the rule of thumb is that households can afford to pay roughly 35% of gross annual income for rent plus utilities. That means that a person earning $10 an hour, or $20,840 a year, could afford a rent/utility payment of $608 a month.

Rental apartments are generally the most affordable housing type, but Sedona�s stock of apartments is only 4% of the overall housing stock as compared to the State average of 23%. Sedona�s rental housing stock is predominantly single-family homes, which rent for significantly more than apartments. In a sample of rental housing availability taken in early September 2008, forty-eight units were advertised for rent in the Red Rock News and through four large property management companies in Sedona. The median rent was $1500, with only one unit renting for less than $700 a month. Of the forty-eight available rentals, only ten rented for less than $1000 a month.

The cost of housing has risen all over the Verde Valley, and all Verde Valley communities, not just Sedona, are struggling with the lack of housing affordable to their workers. Rising gas prices place a significant financial burden on workers who commute to Sedona, and make it even harder for businesses and institutions to attract and keep workers. Relying on outlying Verde Valley communities to house Sedona�s workforce is no longer the answer.

In early September 2008 the Housing Commission partnered with the Chamber of Commerce to develop a survey to gauge how the business community views the need for affordable housing. Fifty-four percent of the respondents, all Chamber members, strongly agreed that there is a need for more housing accessible to Sedona�s workforce. Nearly 60% agreed that housing costs are negatively impacting their ability to attract and retain employees.

Sedona�s Housing Commission has been working since its creation in 2003 to develop strategies to create and preserve affordable housing in our community. The Housing Commission welcomes your comments, suggestions and input. For information about the Housing Commission go to www.SedonaAz.gov/housing or attend one of their meetings that are held on the first and third Mondays of each month.

Readers' comments

#1 What will it take for the City of Sedona staff and elected officials to cease and desist their ill conceived and erroneously framed justifications to create "affordable housing?"

Now is not the time to talk about constructing anything, or extending building permits for developments that cannot happen for who knows how long in the future. Now is the time to conserve and put our energy toward solving immediate problems and eliminating staff positions that are superfluous.

All around us, businesses are closing their doors and yet our city continues to support the same level of staff it has through the "boom" years. Furthermore, staff and our elected officials have allowed a "new" policy of a four day work week at exactly the same time that gas prices have started drastically decreasing.

In addition, as a homeowner, I take issue with the comment in the article that Sedona real estate hasn't been effected by our failing economy. My home value has decreased at least $150,000 in the past year and half.

Unfortunately, our city government, elected officials and staff, seem to suffer from the same malaise as our Federal administration. Their policies demonstrate that not only are they out of touch with reality, but they have turned a deaf ear toward the residents!

Articles supporting the city's desires, rather than the community's are an insult to Sedona residents!

#2 Housing for school teachers and/or firefighters is NOT exclusively a Sedona problem. Both the Sedona-Oak Creek Joint Unified School District #9 and the Sedona Fire Districts provide service extending beyond the Sedona City Limits. They are funded from property taxes levied and collected by both Coconino and Yavapai Counties, depending on the location of the property being taxed. Therefore, this perpetual and annoying insistence by city planners that it's the responsibility of Sedona citizens to address and finance by questionable methods the perceived but unproven problem is more than irritating.

Isn't the real housing problem with employees who serve the hospitality and lodging businesses? As Fort Hyatt is now undergoing Phase #??, why is it that a proportionate number of housing accommodations for service employees weren't required at the time the project obtained approval? Although discussed after Sedona incorporated, this concept was never implemented and enforced by our city planners as numerous resorts, motels, hotels, and timeshares were approved without the employee housing provision. Instead, the trend now is to uproot and displace these folks from the few locations where they presently reside (Hawkeye Trailer Park, Oak Creek Mobile Park, as examples) in exchange for high density development for highly questionable purposes. "High Density Development" might be a good name for this current game?

I am completely in agreement with the person who sent in Comment #1 under this article. City of Sedona appears to be the only place in the world out of touch with the current economic turmoil.

#3 In addressing the housing situation in Sedona I would prefer to refer to this issue as "family friendly" housing... Affordable housing or low income housing bring to mind what most people believe to be slums. As a mother of 2 who because of a lack of good health insurance, lost everything to an illness, I think I am qualified to say that the need for "family friendly" housing in Sedona is great. Many of these so called low income families are simply good people working hard everyday for the businesses that keep this community going, yet who are forced to live outside of the area because they are viewed as low income, or poor and frankly not welcome in this community for fear they will bring down property values.

Lets call it what it is... it is discrimination based on fear, and based on greed. As much as it is hidden and sugar coated for the tourist to see, it is in fact a desire by some in the community to keep "those kind of people" out of the view of the tourists. When one realizes that with out these good hard working individuals Sedona would cease to function, it becomes clear that the attitudes and inappropriate view of "family friendly housing" need to drastically change.

I have no doubt that my view of the situation will in fact offend some, but the view that struggling hard working families do not deserve to be a part of this wonderful community, nor be afforded family friendly housing... should offend all... In toady's poor economy, we are seeing that the population of struggling families is growing at a rapid pace and either the community begins t realize this or it may well find it's self struggling to survive also.