Housing Affordability Problems Mounting in Palm Beach County, Fla.

A crisis of affordable housing in Palm Beach County is even more dire than previously thought, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel is reporting today.

What’s more, those figures are only going to get worse in the coming years, a planning consultant told county commissioners Tuesday.

Consultant Robert Gray said that within five years, an additional 29,700 people or families will be unable to afford home loans to buy houses or even condos in Palm Beach County.

Meanwhile, that number will climb as high as 93,300 by the time the county is completely developed, indicating a sharp rise from the projected 60,000 of a few years ago.

Gray’s findings were the result of two reports commissioned by the county to look at affordable housing, and also workforce housing, which includes families at a higher income.

“Bluntly, people can’t afford to live and work here. That’s a significant problem in this county,” said.

But even as commissioners called for urgent action, they found themselves tangled up with developers and locked in a familiar debate that has hampered a strong move forward.

Many of the suggestions were for small-scale projects, leading Commissioner Burt Aaronson to publicly charge fellow commissioners of tackling the problem too slowly, placing much of the Florida economy at risk.

“What we need is a comprehensive plan,” Aaronson said.

Late last year, based on a housing study conducted in 2000 and updated in 2003, county officials implemented requirements on developers to set aside 16.5 percent of new homes to be priced between $164,000-304,000.

That range makes for reasonable Florida mortgage payments in an area where home prices are often double that. But can officials succeed in providing enough housing that makes the grade?

The commission also set up a Community Land Trust and are working on incentives including mitigation or impact fees on big-box stores or large mansions to help fund workforce housing.

According to new reports, 2-3 bedroom homes had to cost between $113,000 and $130,625 in 2005 to be affordable, while the average home sales were at $390,000 that year.

Home prices have dropped in Florida slightly since then, but Gray said they had likely bottomed out at $370,000. That’s of little solace to those with lower or even higher incomes who can’t afford a mortgage loan near big enough.

Commissioners called for action. Aaronson urged building a transportation corridor and an entire community of affordable housing, even suggesting Mecca Farms, the former proposed site for Scripps Florida.

But Commissioner Karen Marcus said that plan was prohibitive, and would meet enormous environmental hurdles. She and Jeff Koons suggested alternatives to buy up individual homes or small communities.

“Let’s do something today,” said Commissioner Jess Santamaria. He suggested a land trust because land is the most costly aspect of a new home.

Gray suggested that what the Florida housing market needs is a new paradigm, where young people waited longer to buy and set their sights on smaller, more compact and affordable homes. Of course, he said, it also fell on the county.

“Part of it is how do you provide money to fill in some of the gap,” he said.