Local News

The percentage of Ohio homeowners who are house poor — so heavily invested in their homes that they may have trouble paying for necessities like food and health care — jumped by more than 60 percent from 2000 to 2007, according to a Dayton Daily News analysis of newly released Census data.

Meanwhile, the state's median housing value dropped nearly 1 percent from 2006 to 2007, and experts expect it to decline further in 2008.

The local Census numbers reflect the conditions that led to the crisis now rocking the banking industry. As the number of mortgages climbed, so did the number of overextended mortgage-holders who see the value of their investment slipping.

"It all sort of rolled into the mess we see now," said Jim McCarthy, president and chief executive of the Miami Valley Fair Housing Center.

Among the highlights of the Daily News analysis:

• The percentage of mortgage-holders in Ohio who are spending 30 percent or more of their household incomes on housing expenses leaped by more than 60 percent from 2000 to 2007, to 30.7 percent of all mortgage-holders.

• The percentage who spend half or more of their income on mortgages, property taxes, insurance and utilities jumped by almost two-thirds, to more than 10 percent overall.

• Housing values slipped 0.9 percent statewide from 2006 to 2007, but slid further locally: 4.2 percent in Miami County, 3.8 percent in Clark County and 1.2 percent in Montgomery County.

McCarthy said he's not surprised that more people are overextended. "People have been encouraged to take on more debt than we ever historically thought was advisable," he said.