Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)

Citation: Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)
Jurisdiction: Arlington (municipal)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57214/637641171662530000 ↗

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Ownership Housing
It would be difficult for the typical Arlington household to purchase a home in Arlington today, regardless of
protected class status. A household earning Arlington’s median income of $103,594 could afford to purchase a
home costing about $475,000, assuming good credit, minimal existing debt, and a down payment of 20%. Of
course, in today’s market a 20% down payment is rare for a first-time homebuyer; if a household does not have
this level of savings, the amount it can afford to pay for a home is even less. For example, if the same household
makes a 5% downpayment, the amount it can afford to pay drops to $380,000.14
Arlington’s average single-family home and condominium sale price was $594,100 for sales from 2013 to
2017.15 This is more than $100,000 more expensive than the typical Arlington household can afford with a 20%
downpayment. If the household only has savings for a 5% downpayment, the affordability gap increases to
more than $200,000.
For current Arlington residents, the median income differences between the median White household and the
median household of color are negligible, so their ability to afford to purchase a home at current prices are
roughly similar. As with renting, though, access to Arlington’s housing by residents of the comparison region varies
significantly by race. Assuming access to a competitive mortgage, a family earning the median salary of a Black
or Latino household ($43,060 and $43,882, respectively) could afford to purchase a home costing roughly
$150,000—about 25% of the median home price in town.16 This demonstrates that members of protected
classes who are not incumbent residents face barriers to accessing housing in Arlington (though it does not mean
that no members of protected classes can access Arlington’s