We at the Lost
Coast Outpost love and esteem
our crosstown colleagues at the Eureka Times-Standard.
Let the ad salespeople at our respective publications rip out each
others’ throats on the field of battle. Let the money men Spy v.
Spy their way to victory over cocktails at the Ingomar. All that is
as it should be, and sometimes it is a really amazing spectacle!
But
never suppose that any of that could fracture the rock-solid
fraternity that we content creators enjoy. I will say it again: We
love and esteem our crosstown colleagues at the Times-Standard.
More than one of us were among their ranks, once upon a time! Before
we GTFO’d outta there, I mean.
All
that said, we feel we must
point out in the gentlest possible fashion that a story that just
went up on the T-S website
– a story headlined “Only
30% of households can afford homes in Humboldt County” – is
incorrect.
Why
is it incorrect? Well, in the story, reporter Sonia Waraich, who does
lots of great work, takes a look at the quarterly
affordability data gathered by the California Association of
Realtors, which is a useful thing to do. There she finds that the
association’s “Housing Affordability Index” for Humboldt County
has dropped to 30 – down from 39 one year ago.
What
is the housing affordability index? The California Association of
Realtors explains:
C.A.R.’s Housing Affordability Index (HAI) measures the
percentage of households that can afford to purchase a median-priced,
single-family home in California. C.A.R. also reports affordability
indices for regions and select counties within the state.
So what does that mean? It means, according to the association’s
estimates, that 30 percent of Humboldt County families could afford
the median-priced home for sale in Humboldt County – down from 39
percent of families a year ago.
But what does the T-S say it means? It says:
At the start of 2021, about 39% of households could
afford a single-family home in the county, but that dropped to 30% at
the start of this year, according to data released earlier this month
by the California Association of Realtors.
Do you notice the missing word,
there? That word is “median.” It should say: “At the start of
2021, about 39% of households could afford the median-priced
single-family home in the county, but that dropped to 30 percent at
the start of this year…”
Saying
that only 30 percent of households can afford to buy a home
is a lot different than saying that only 30 percent of households can
afford to buy the
median-priced home. Because why? Because there are many homes for
sale that are cheaper
than the median-priced home. Exactly half of them, in fact!
Thank
you for allowing me this gentle correction, for
which I deeply apologize, and
#savelocalnews.
