Home prices on rise

DuPage County still tops the list of priciest housing markets in the state.

And it's not getting any easier to buy those homes, according to an annual report published by the DuPage Homeownership Center.

The Wheaton-based nonprofit group Friday released statistics showing the median sales price for a house in DuPage has jumped nearly 5 percent in the past year to $360,000.

Lake County, the next most expensive community, has a median sales price of $306,700.

But while DuPage's housing prices increased last year, the median income of its residents actually dropped for the first time in years, said Sheila McCann, director of outreach and development at the DuPage Homeownership Center.

Median household income dropped to $69,800, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

At this time last year, the median income was $72,400.

"We're sort of heading in the wrong direction here," McCann said. "People need to realize that we need to maintain and preserve affordable housing in our community."

HUD recommends a family not spend more than 30 percent of monthly income on housing.

Applying HUD's affordability standard to DuPage, a family must make $126,120 a year to afford that $360,000 home.

Carol Stream Trustee Pamela Fenner knows the difficulties many first-time buyers face when searching for real estate in DuPage.

Both of her children tried to buy homes in the county but couldn't find one they could afford.

"The prices are driving our young, upwardly mobile residents out of the county," said Fenner, vice chairman of the DuPage Housing Authority.

"Our teachers, police officers and skilled workers can no longer afford to live here, much less anybody near the poverty level," she said.

Several networks and coalitions have been established to help stem the imbalance between housing prices and income.

And while it won't solve the county's dearth of affordable housing, DuPage Habitat for Humanity is going to build a 11-unit subdivision near West Chicago.

"The numbers certainly drive home the point," said Sarah Brachle, executive director for DuPage Habitat for Humanity. "Most people on limited incomes can't afford to live here."