SILVER SPRING, MD – According to Montgomery
County Planning Department researchers, the median price for a new single-family
detached home in Montgomery County reached a startling $1.1 million in the
first quarter of 2007.
Researchers found average prices for all
types of housing increased 8 percent in the first quarter while prices were
flat for the rest of the Washington, D.C. area.
County prices for existing single-family
homes and new townhouses decreased slightly but continue to average more than
$500,000.
Researchers say that developers appear to be
responding to the downturn in the housing market by focusing on building high-end
houses for the affluent rather than meeting the housing needs of middle- and
lower-income families. Read the full
report at: http://www.mc-mncppc.org/research/documents/HousingBulletin091907_003.pdf
Aware of the housing trend, the Planning
Board and other officials are working to provide affordable housing options. Current
county law requires most residential developers to include a minimum of 12.5
percent moderately priced homes in their proposed plans. When the Planning Board
approves 35 or more new housing units near Metro Stations, developers are
required to build workforce housing units.
With County Council support, the Planning
Board has placed even greater emphasis on the importance of affordable housing
opportunities in the county, initiating a new housing study that will become a
new element of the county’s General Plan. In June, the Planning Board directed
its researchers to analyze county’s housing trends and examine where home
prices tend to be lower. Researchers also will recommend ways the county’s most
affordable neighborhoods can maintain their quality of life without endangering
their affordability. Their report is expected to be delivered to the Planning
Board in January.
Late this month, the board will send a
revised set of growth policy recommendations to the County Council that – if
adopted – will require developers to pay higher impact fees in order to offset
the costs of infrastructure required by brand-new homes in existing
communities. The board recommended that developers be required to pay a greater
share of the cost to build new roads and schools.
Under the board’s proposal, developers of
most single-family detached homes would need to pay about $31,000 in impact
taxes. According to a variety of economic studies, those fees add costs to
developers, not homeowners, and help existing residents receive adequate
services.
“Developers are not having problems selling high-priced new
homes, so we think they can contribute 3 percent of the revenues to help
improve the roads and schools serving that new home,” said Planning Board
Chairman Royce Hanson.
The Planning Board will review its growth policy
recommendations on Sept. 27 and will present those to the County Council in
work sessions starting Oct. 1.