Our friends at non-profit housing development organization Housing Vermont in Burlington are looking for a Project Manager.
Read more about the position at the Seven Days Web site. Or email [email protected].
New home sales up
The U.S. Department of Commerce reported sales of new homes were up 11 percent in June — the largest jump in more than eight years and well above the rise of 2.3 percent expected by analysts.
Resales of existing homes were up 3.6 percent in June, the third straight monthly increase.
“The evidence is clear that home buyers are taking advantage of Recovery Act tax incentives, declines in home prices and relatively low mortgage rates,” U.S. Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Rebecca Blank said.
“While the economic environment remains difficult, as more Recovery Act dollars hit the streets, we anticipate that it will further bolster the economy in the coming months.”
New minimum wage still too low for housing
While last Friday's boost in the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour will help working Americans on the lower end of the pay scale, it still doesn't allow those people to afford decent housing.
According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition's annual "Out of Reach" report, a household must earn $17.84 an hour to afford the national average two-bedroom "fair market rent" (FMR) of $928 a month.
According to the Coalition, "In no county in the U.S. can a full-time minimum wage worker afford even a one-bedroom apartment at the FMR."
With a minimum wage of $8.06 an hour, Vermont is one of 14 states with a minimum higher than the national.
Still, the gap for Vermonters between the minimum wage and fair market rent is substantial.
VHCB praised, legislators thanked, in Herald
In an opinion piece that appeared recently in the Rutland Herald, Vermont Land Trust Executive Director Gil Livingston and Rutland County Community Land Trust Executive Director Elisabeth Kulas thanked legislators for funding the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board.
"Vermont legislators wisely determined that while difficult economic times require serious belt-tightening, our strategic investments in safe, decent affordable housing and our working farms and forests must continue," the two wrote.