The facts associated with housing in 495/MetroWest are disconcerting. Consider:

• The median price of a home in the region is $380,000.
• Almost half of the homeowners in the 32 communities of the 495/MetroWest region purchased their homes before 1995; many of them would be unable to afford to purchase at today's prices.
• Median single family home prices in the region ranged from $260,000 in Bellingham to $675,000 in Sherborn in 2003. Yet a person earning $35,000/year – a typical salary for a starting teacher with a bachelor's degree – can only afford to buy a home for about $160,000. Someone earning a $50,000 salary can buy a home priced at about $232,000 – still below the lowest median price of homes in the area.
• In 2000, a household earning the median income for its community could afford the median-priced home in 26 of the 32 communities. By 2003, that number had dropped to 20. And only 4 of the area’s communities would be considered affordable to first-time homebuyers (defined as those earning 80% of the community median income and purchasing a home priced at 80% of the median with a 10% down payment).
• 36% of renters in the 32 495/MetroWest communities pay more than 30% of their income for rent and 15% pay more than 50 percent; 22% of homeowners pay more than 30% and 7% pay more than 50% for their mortgages. This means that nearly 16,500 renters and more than 26,000 homeowners are considered "cost burdened", paying more than 30% of their income for housing. Included in these numbers are some 8,400 homeowners and 7,000 renters who are severely cost burdened, paying more than 50% of their income for housing.