Home prices throughout Oregon have risen in recent years, but the Ashland housing market has seen a dramatic spike.
At $549,900, the average home price is 25% more than what someone would pay in Phoenix, the next most expensive city in the Rogue Valley, according to the city's median home sale price data from November 2021 to January 2022.
Jacksonville was the most expensive home market, but Ashland city staff mention that homes sell less frequently in Jacksonville, which can skew the data.
Over half of Ashland residents earn less than the median income for Jackson County.
鈥淭here鈥檚 this assumption that Ashland folks are affluent,鈥� says Ashland Housing and Human Services Commissioner Echo Fields. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 really not true. And that鈥檚 one thing that I think comes out of meetings like this, is that kind of reality check of what we鈥檙e facing.鈥�
Almost half of Ashland residents also live in cost-burdened households, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on their housing, whether they rent or own their home. That number jumps up to 63% when looking solely at the number of renters who are rent-burdened.
Ashland is currently developing a to outline what the city can do over the next eight years to create more affordable housing.
Fields says barriers include the city鈥檚 hilly perimeter which makes it harder to build more homes.
鈥淲e need to do some things, I think, like expand what鈥檚 called our urban growth boundary,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e probably gonna need to do some more actual annexation. That鈥檚 extremely politically difficult. But without that we simply will not get the new housing stock that we need.鈥�
The city is asking residents to fill out a to identify the biggest priorities to deal with the housing crisis. Fields says input could help win over city council members to support politically challenging proposals.
The city is considering offering more financial incentives and relaxing zoning laws to create more affordable housing, Fields says.
Other Ashland residents spoke in support of the city鈥檚 three mobile home parks. Cynthia Dettman is part of the Committee to Protect Ashland鈥檚 Mobile Home Parks.
She says under , mobile home owners are given just one-year鈥檚 notice if a park is being sold or closed, and residents are paid a maximum of $9,000 as compensation.
Dettman says that payment is not enough 鈥� as most 鈥渕obile鈥� homes aren鈥檛 actually mobile 鈥� and will be abandoned if a park is closed, costing owners hundreds of thousands of dollars.
鈥淣ot only is it an issue of rent and affordability,鈥� Dettman says. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 also an opportunity for low-income people to own homes. So the mobile home parks represent low-income home ownership.鈥�
Dettman says the city should adopt protections for mobile home parks similar to a passed in 2018. That ordinance re-zones mobile home parks to be designated specifically for manufactured dwelling park use. Dettman says that would make it harder for developers to close a park and build something else in its place.
Fields says it鈥檚 difficult for the commission to identify and advocate for solutions without also having members who are younger.
鈥淲e need the voices of people who are in that younger age bracket, who have families, who cannot find places to live in Ashland,鈥� Fields says.
She expects several spaces on the commission to open in the near future and encourages younger residents to apply to help guide the housing plan.
The community survey closes on October 14th. City staff expect to adopt the housing production strategy plan by the end of the year.
