Part of the reason Morgantown’s real estate market is so hot is because there’s a lack of available and affordable housing. So we’re not going to object to the premise of building more housing. However, we do object to the description of the potential Metro Properties development as “affordable.”
As Ben Conley reported, the City of Morgantown is considering a zoning amendment that would allow Metro to build roughly 27 townhouses between Evans Street and Metro Towers (University Avenue). David Biafora described the development as separate from Metro Towers, with individual owners. His nephew, Richard Biafora, said the townhomes would be “providing clean, safe, reasonably affordable housing to own for law students, med students or professionals in the area” — at $288,000 to $300,000 apiece.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development defines housing as “affordable” when occupants spend 30% or less of their income on housing-related costs, including utilities. According to the census, Morgantown’s 2022 median income was about $41,000; to account for inflation, we’ll say the 2024 median income is $45,000. (The census also reported roughly 34% of the city’s populace lived in poverty — $30,000 or less per year for a family of four.)
For a household making $45,000 per year, monthly housing-related costs — including utilities — should be no more than $1,125 per month. The mortgage alone for a $288,000 townhouse, at current rates and with 20% down payment, is $1,824 per month; for a $300,000 townhouse, it’s almost $1,900 per month. So the median household would spend almost half its yearly income just on mortgage.
Already, the proposed townhouses are unaffordable for half of Morgantown’s households to buy.
The counterpoint, of course, is the new development targets “law students, med students or professionals.” Yes, when those individuals find work, they make $50,000 or more a year and can supposedly afford more — but they also tend to carry school-related debt that chips away at their spending power. While they may be the intended consumer, that doesn’t mean they will be.
We also worry, despite the intention for these townhouses to be owner-occupied, they will become part of Morgantown’s ubiquitous rental landscape that has made purchasing a home difficult for first-time homebuyers.
As we said at the start of this editorial, we do not object to Metro building the townhouses. Its proposal, however, is the perfect example of the vast chasm between what developers consider “affordable” housing and the reality of what half the city’s population can actually afford. And what we need is more housing designed for the median-income earner and below.
Unfortunately, though, such development isn’t as profitable for developers. So roughly half of Morgantown’s households will continue to watch as the area’s real estate is dominated by luxury builds and the dream of homeownership slips further and further away.
