Health Personnel Priced Out of Homeownership?

Health care professionals and other key community workers are priced out of homeownership in most metropolitan areas nationwide, according to a joint study by the Center for Housing Policy and Homes for Working Families, both of Washington, D.C.It is clear from the study of over 200 U.S. cities that "housing affordability concerns stretch beyond the health care field to a spectrum of other occupations," said CHP chairman Kent Colton, president of K Colton LLC and senior scholar at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Researchers maintain that the welfare of health care workers has socioeconomic implications important for the country at large. "With Americans living longer and the baby boomer generation aging, our communities will need more health care workers to meet the growing demand," Mr. Colton said. "However, if these workers cannot afford to become homeowners, as this study shows, it will likely become difficult to attract a sufficient workforce." The CHP, the research affiliate of the National Housing Conference, can be found online at http://www.nhc.org/housing/chp-index, and Homes for Working Families can be found at http://www.homesforworkingfamilies.org.