The bursting of the real estate and housing bubble in 2008 brought drastic changes to the economy of Blaine County.
According to the Idaho Department of Labor, the county lost 1,552 jobs during 2008 and 2009, mostly in the construction and food-service industries. Many people have lost homes to foreclosure.
Others see the current housing slump as an opportunity to enter a housing market that was out of reach five years ago.
What does all this mean for the future development or acquisition of deed-restricted, workforce and subsidized rental housing?
Last week, the results of an affordable-housing needs assessment were presented to the public by Blaine County Housing Authority Executive Director David Patrie and ARCH Community Housing Trust Executive Director Michelle Griffith. The study was completed in November and presented Thursday, Dec. 1, at the Old County Courthouse in Hailey.
The study cites a current need for 480 additional affordable-housing units in Ketchum, Sun Valley and surrounding areas of Blaine County. That number is down from 1,200 units deemed necessary in 2006, based on a previous study.
"This does not mean there are people in Hailey and Bellevue that do not need affordable housing," Griffith said.
The study used U.S. Census data, Idaho Department of Labor statistics and an inventory of Blaine County housing stock and conditions to compute affordable-housing needs, based on the cost of housing as a percentage of income.
The study relied on area median income standards established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development measured against home values assessed by Blaine County.
The study was geared to serve a typical family of three in Blaine County that earns $56,000 per year, and intends to spend no more than 30 percent of that income on housing.
About half the projected need is for deed-restricted and workforce housing buyers. The remaining 240 needed units are for renters, many of whom Griffith said could be facing foreclosure in the near future if the job market does not improve.
"For years, we have been focused on home ownership, but now we have to temper that with rentals," Griffith said.
"There is also a critical need for senior housing," she said.
Griffith said ARCH's 24-unit River Street Senior Community, nearing completion in Hailey, has a waiting list of applicants.
Griffith said ARCH has identified five homes in Hailey's Woodside subdivision for "acquisition and rehabilitation" under grants that could be made available to the private, nonprofit organization. She said the program would allow for remodels of abandoned and foreclosed homes.
Griffith said red tape associated with purchasing homes up for a short sale, high cash requirements from lenders and the uninhabitable state of many dwellings prohibit open market rehabilitation by low-income wage earners.
Despite the cited need for more affordable housing units, the Blaine County Housing Authority database lists 120 applicants in 2011, down from 292 in 2000. In an interview, Patrie said the discrepancy between the cited need for 480 units and the waiting list of 120 people is due to several factors, including lack of knowledge by many people, especially Hispanics, about the Housing Authority's services. In addition, he said, many people who qualify for those services have not applied or have dropped off the waiting list due to a lack of available housing.
The study does not include the possibility that a portion of the 1,400 people who commute to the Wood River Valley for work might prefer to live here, and perhaps buy a home.
The study reports that the Hispanic community grew sharply from 11 percent of the county population in 2000 to 20 percent in 2011.
"This accounts for the majority of growth in the county as a whole," Patrie said.
The 364-unit Balmoral Apartments in Woodside, a tax-credit-subsidized housing project popular with the Hispanic community, was singled out as problematic by Patrie for supplying affordable housing. He cited "management issues" and a lack of code enforcement at Balmoral that make it a less desirable place to live.
"I would even go out on a limb and say it is a good example of how not to develop affordable housing," he said.
Ketchum resident Mickey Garcia said Balmoral was "helpful" for low-wage earners but that is was an example of badly conceived "ghetto-style" developments that concentrate people at the lower end of the economic spectrum.
Real estate agent Karen Province said the process for selling "distressed" homes in the area has become streamlined in the last two years, with foreclosed and short sales making up about 90 percent of transactions.
Bob Crosby, governmental affairs officer for the Sun Valley Board of Realtors, said real estate transactions are back to 90 percent of what they were in 2007, before the crash.
"But the value of home prices has not come back," he said.
Crosby criticized the study for not taking into account "realities on the ground" within the current depressed market.
"Our organization believes there is a long-term need for affordable housing," Crosby said. "But in every community in Blaine County you can find homes that would be affordable to a family on which the study is based."
Griffith said the current market is an opportunity for affordable-housing organizations to acquire properties.
Patrie said in response to Crosby's critique that even though the study's methodologies do not include all pertinent information, including surveys, that it will provide baseline statistics that can be updated with changes in assessed property values, interest rates, lending statistics and other market forces.
"We can use it to see if we are doing a better job in the future at reducing the housing burden, or see if it is getting worse," he said.
Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com
Construction of a new 24-unit rental-apartment complex for seniors proceeds on River Street in Hailey. The nonprofit organization behind the project, ARCH, believes the complex meets only a fraction of the need for affordable housing in Blaine County. Photo by Willy Cook
