Housing Expo targets affordability

By Diwata Fonte
The Fresno Bee

(Updated Saturday, April 24, 2004, 5:27 AM)

VISALIA -- Affordable housing, rising land costs, population growth and a "white-hot" real estate market lured 125 professionals to the Valley to tackle such looming issues in the state's $257 billion housing industry.

The 2004 Housing Expo, a one-day seminar focusing on the central San Joaquin Valley's housing industry, covered such topics as financing, community planning issues and the best practices for developing multifamily homes.

"There's so many good ideas that were brought up today, and the participants were really top-notch," said Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, who helped sponsor the event. "They came up with some really conclusive points of action."

Recommendations included gathering earlier public input for development projects, supporting programs that increase the number of minority home buyers and the development of multiple-family housing projects. Other ideas included looking at mobile-home subdivisions as in-fill projects, and down payment assistance for first-time buyers.

Nunes said he plans to explore California laws that require workers to be paid prevailing wages on affordable-housing projects. "We need to see if there's something we can do at the federal level," Nunes said. "It's outrageous that the state of California would put themselves at a disadvantage to the rest of the country."

The requirement, designed to make sure that workers are paid high enough wages to perform quality work, reduces the number of affordable houses built, said Michael Lane, a management analyst with Visalia's Self-Help Enterprises, a nonprofit agency that helps families with affordable housing.

Lane said the seminar is a way to head off a housing market that may price more working people out of the market.

For example, San Diego's median home price is more than $400,000, making it difficult for people to buy a home.

"We're not there yet, but we need to be pro-active so we can provide workforce housing for employees," said Lane.

Tulare and Kings counties' median home price is $138,000, according to the Building Industry Association of Tulare/Kings Counties.

Lane said businesses will be attracted to areas with affordable housing. "For us, it's an economic development issue."

The reporter can be reached

at dfonte@fresnobee.com or (559) 622-2419.