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Website by Jessica Bell and Jonathan Bell
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is the Area Median Income?
What is the average home price?
What is the affordability gap?
What are Tenant Rights and Responsibilities under MA Laws?
What are Landlord Rights and Responsibilities under MA Laws?
What is affordable housing?
Housing is considered affordable when total housing costs - rent or mortgage plus taxes and basic utilities - are no more than 30% of a household's gross income. However, for many households, regardless of income, housing costs often go as high as 40-50% of gross income.
Standards of affordability, as defined by HUD, start at 80% of an area's median income. HUD assumes that those at 100% or above can afford, and are served by, market rate rents.
What is the Area Median Income?
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has defined median income for Dukes County in 2004 as $66,100 for a family of four.
Sample income guidelines are:
Household Size |
60% of median |
80% of median |
100% of median |
120% of median |
140% of median |
One Person |
$27,800
|
$37,000
|
$46,300
|
$55,600
|
$64,800
|
Two Persons |
$31,700
|
$42,300
|
$52,900
|
$63,500
|
$74,100
|
Three Persons |
$35,700
|
$47,600
|
$59,500
|
$71,400
|
$83,300
|
Four Persons |
$39,700
|
$52,900
|
$66,100
|
$79,300
|
$92,500
|
Five Persons |
$42,800
|
57,100
|
$71,400
|
$85,700
|
$100,000
|
|
|
The Fair Market Rents are gross rent estimates, including rent and cost of utilities, as defined annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Dukes County. The Fair Market Rents for Dukes County in 2004 are:
|
|
Studio |
1 Bedroom |
2 Bedroom |
3 Bedroom |
4 Bedroom |
Fair Market Rent |
$710
|
$723
|
$961
|
$1,203
|
$1,350
|
The 2002 median single-family home price on Martha's Vineyard averaged
$661,900 ($1,183,750 for Aquinnah, 1,200,000 for Chilmark, $485,000 for Edgartown,
$325,000 for Oak Bluffs, $337,000 for Tisbury, and $440,000 for West Tisbury),
nearly double that of a decade ago. The past two years have seen the virtual
disappearance of homes sold for under $250,000.
In today's market, there is nothing a median-income renter can buy on Martha's Vineyard. Even the year-round family earning the median income of $66,100 would find nothing to purchase without the equity from an existing home. In the past year, the 1,228 renter households on Martha's Vineyard earning less than $50,000 had to complete with off-island buyers for the chance to purchase one of just nine homes that sold Island-wide for under $250,000, the highest price these renters could normally afford.