JULY 25

Washington – Employers are beginning to hire new workers in the midst of a painfully slow economic recovery, but typically not at salaries that allow employees to buy a home or obtain even modest rental housing, according to a new report by the Center for Housing Policy. The Washington and Baltimore regions are among the least affordable housing markets in the nation, the study found.

In its report, Paycheck to Paycheck: Is Housing Affordable for Americans Getting Back to Work? the center compared salaries for 72 occupations with housing costs in 209 metropolitan areas and found that the fastest growing jobs often did not pay enough for even modest accommodations. The recession has kept rent low and driven mortgage rates and home costs down. Yet, the average new worker is forced to rely on two or more paychecks to make ends meet or find affordable housing far from their work site, researchers found.

Learn more about what the administration of Governor Martin O’Malley and Lt. Governor Anthony Brown is doing to help make housing more affordable in Maryland.  These include low fixed interest rates and downpayment and closing cost assistance through the Maryland Mortgage Program, partnerships with some of the state’s largest employees through the House Keys 4 Employees program and using federal and state tax credits to help finance the preservation or creation of quality, energy efficient affordable housing throughout the state.