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A survey run by the Blaine County Housing Authority found that 38% of respondents are living in unstable or cost-burdened housing.
The questionnaire received 800 valid respondents, according to a report by the city of Ketchum, which staffs and administers the Housing Authority.
“The numbers that show how many people in this valley are housing insecure are frightening,” Councilman Michael David said during a Ketchum City Council meeting Monday night. “People that are secure in their housing often don’t understand the seriousness of it.”
Figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics presented by Ketchum Housing Director Carissa Connelly this week show that the gap between what the average Blaine County resident can afford and what the average home costs is much more dramatic than it was just a decade ago.
For the median dual-income renter, the affordability gap, which measures the difference between what the average resident can afford and what they have to pay for housing, is about $12,600 annually in Blaine County, and $14,100 per year in Ketchum. In 2014, the respective gaps were less than half of that. For the median dual-income home buyers, the affordability gap is $390,000 for a multifamily home throughout the county and $510,000 for a multifamily home in Ketchum.
The median home price in Ketchum jumped from just over $1 million in 2014 to over $3.5 million in 2022. Notable is how dramatically that price rose from 2021 to 2022: In 2021, the median home price in Ketchum was just under $2 million, before jumping more than 40% in just one year.
Michael David
Roland Lane
“The American dream of building up [from a smaller property to a larger one] is impossible here,” Councilwoman Amanda Breen said. “There isn’t a next step up when that next step up [costs] more than $3 million.”
The survey also found nearly half of those who answered would leave the Wood River Valley before choosing to commute from farther than Bellevue. Forty-five percent of respondents said they would rather leave the community than live in unincorporated Blaine County or further. When the prompt was changed to Carey or Fairfield, that number rose to 77% and 89%, respectively. The vast majority of respondents stated that their ideal housing situation is either in Ketchum, Sun Valley or Hailey, with 23% saying that they would leave the valley if they had to move to Bellevue.
The survey also found that 8.5% of respondents who work in Ketchum also live in the city. This is a slight increase from the previously reported figure of 7%. Connelly said that rise is thanks in part to renovations at the Lift Tower Lodge, an affordable housing structure at the entrance of town, as well as gains made in the Lease to Locals program, which offers cash incentives to short-term rental owners who convert their properties to long-term or seasonal leases. Last month, Connelly reported that 23 people have been housed by the program, which is put on by a company called Placemate that was profiled in the Express last year.
Then, there are those with no housing at all. Last winter, the city pegged the number of homeless residents at around 140. Blaine County Public Schools reported this year that it has 114 students enrolled who meet the definition of homelessness.
Connelly also said that responses indicate 41% of housing stock is long-term occupied, an 11% increase since that figure was last totaled. The city’s goal is to reach 60% in the next decade.
There is still room for improvement on the perception of Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs, according to the data. Only about 12% of Ketchum respondents, 6% of Sun Valley respondents, and 25% of Hailey respondents expressed interest in an ADU incentive program.
As for the upcoming year, the menu is substantial. The Housing Department will begin work with HOAs to change ADU policies, as well as promoting them among homeowners. Interim Ordinance 1234, which was passed last fall and is intended to guide downtown development, must be refined and permanently implemented this fall to stay in place. The department will also create a referral system for homeowners and renters. Mayor Neil Bradshaw said there is a lot to do.
“I am a little concerned about all that you want to take on for next year, because there is a lot to get done,” he said, before saying that he has confidence in Connelly and her team to accomplish what’s on their list. 
Here's an interesting read on the lack of objective data about housing loss, housing cost burden and homelessness. We can't fix what we don't measure. I want to believe the housing survey was well intended, but for heaven's sake please invest the time and funds to do a proper, statistically valid survey. Then we could all at least agree to the scale of challenge. Relying on some pavlovian citizens' response to the oft-repeated cries of "crisis" is lame. Give us data - not forecasts based on chamber of commerce (SVED) needs for low wage servants.
Curt, the limit on nesting of comments / replies below did not allow me to reply to your query. I am inferring that you mean the growth in a local workforce segment that is not "bankable" for mortgages or able to provide suitable documentation for lease background checks. Yes that's part of the issue.
This won't get solved because again, like many other ski towns, the focus is on those with money to who live there 3 days a year. It's NOT and NEVER has been about the local community and those that work each day to make that place special and desirable to buy/build a home to stay 3 days a year. This is a local leadership and and culture issue. When you start to "value" the locals, you begin to pay them at a rate that allows them to live a good life, which translates into marriage, family, college, retirement. Ya know, that BS narrative that old white America gave us in the 50's. Change it. Those goofballs that live there for 3 days won't go away, they will still come and "spend" their money at the lodge. Change it!! Take care of the working locals!!!
“In January 1914, Henry Ford started paying his auto workers a remarkable $5 a day. Doubling the average wage helped ensure a stable workforce and likely boosted sales since the workers could now afford to buy the cars they were making. It laid the foundation for an economy driven by consumer demand.”
More pseudo-science and propaganda. The survey was voluntary and open to anyone wishing to respond, so it is not statistically relevant. To the extent some folks are housing burdened (a subjective definition where > 30% of income is spent on housing), it would seem that a minor increase in wages would fix that for most of the 38%. Using the data in the article, the dual-income median shortfall of $12,600/year would be corrected by increasing hourly wages for the couple by $3.28. So how about implementing a living minimum wage in the county? It's more fair to workers, has less impacts to the built environment, and less bureaucracy costs in administration. BCHA has been a train wreck of poor management and wasted funds on wages. When we will learn?
Thanks Badger. I just looked at the statute, you are correct. I guess its up to the market alone to address the wage v. housing cost imbalance (which it has over the last twenty years of "housing crisis" here).
@consider you make an important point. When we choose to subsidize tourism and not invest in alternative business creation, we are consigning ourselves to a low wage economy. How is that good for our children? The current Ketchum City Council has approved private pickle-ball courts in the industrial park and forced at least one business there to expand outside of Ketchum. There has been no planning at all on diversifying the economy. Instead, every resource has gone into subsidizing tourism, to the extent of taxing local tourism workers to subsidize their employers. If we keep going all in on tourism, why are we surprised that we have such a crappy wage scale here?
Wonder what has driven wages down in the valley? As someone in the construction sector for the last 35yrs it’s as obvious as the nose on your face but nobody will address the obvious so enjoy what you created.
You are spot on. Non-statistical surveys are the modus opera for Ketchum to rationalize its tourism subsidization agenda. If they care so much about the broader workforce, why have they never even surveyed employers? They have a pattern of seeking reinforcement of their own biases and rejection of data that does not conform to their bias. To wit, the recent traffic study that they binned.
There's a worker shortage not a work force housing shortage. There is no future here not only for young people but semi-professionals. So how are local businesses and air headed politician going to create that?
You see no correlation there? There is a worker shortage because many of the jobs do not pay enough to cover rent or mortgages. If you are making $25 per hour 40 hours a week and get paid PTO for a full 52-week annual salary of $52,000. Take (at a minimum) 20% off for taxes you are down to $41,600. You are lucky enough to find a rental @ $2000 per month you’re down to $17,600 so you have a remaining budget of $1354 a month or $338.50 per week. This to pay for utilities, auto, gas, food, medical, clothes and miscellaneous other expenses. When housing cost you over 65% of your income there is a serious problem.
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Here's an interesting read on the lack of objective data about housing loss, housing cost burden and homelessness. We can't fix what we don't measure. I want to believe the housing survey was well intended, but for heaven's sake please invest the time and funds to do a proper, statistically valid survey. Then we could all at least agree to the scale of challenge. Relying on some pavlovian citizens' response to the oft-repeated cries of "crisis" is lame. Give us data - not forecasts based on chamber of commerce (SVED) needs for low wage servants.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/05/04/solving-the-housing-crisis-00095075
Embrace the many benefits of being a sanctuary valley, this is one of them.
Curt, the limit on nesting of comments / replies below did not allow me to reply to your query. I am inferring that you mean the growth in a local workforce segment that is not "bankable" for mortgages or able to provide suitable documentation for lease background checks. Yes that's part of the issue.
This won't get solved because again, like many other ski towns, the focus is on those with money to who live there 3 days a year. It's NOT and NEVER has been about the local community and those that work each day to make that place special and desirable to buy/build a home to stay 3 days a year. This is a local leadership and and culture issue. When you start to "value" the locals, you begin to pay them at a rate that allows them to live a good life, which translates into marriage, family, college, retirement. Ya know, that BS narrative that old white America gave us in the 50's. Change it. Those goofballs that live there for 3 days won't go away, they will still come and "spend" their money at the lodge. Change it!! Take care of the working locals!!!
“In January 1914, Henry Ford started paying his auto workers a remarkable $5 a day. Doubling the average wage helped ensure a stable workforce and likely boosted sales since the workers could now afford to buy the cars they were making. It laid the foundation for an economy driven by consumer demand.”
More pseudo-science and propaganda. The survey was voluntary and open to anyone wishing to respond, so it is not statistically relevant. To the extent some folks are housing burdened (a subjective definition where > 30% of income is spent on housing), it would seem that a minor increase in wages would fix that for most of the 38%. Using the data in the article, the dual-income median shortfall of $12,600/year would be corrected by increasing hourly wages for the couple by $3.28. So how about implementing a living minimum wage in the county? It's more fair to workers, has less impacts to the built environment, and less bureaucracy costs in administration. BCHA has been a train wreck of poor management and wasted funds on wages. When we will learn?
(It recently became illegal in Idaho for counties to set a minimum wage.)
Thanks Badger. I just looked at the statute, you are correct. I guess its up to the market alone to address the wage v. housing cost imbalance (which it has over the last twenty years of "housing crisis" here).
Resort areas by definition create a permanent service/servant class.
@consider you make an important point. When we choose to subsidize tourism and not invest in alternative business creation, we are consigning ourselves to a low wage economy. How is that good for our children? The current Ketchum City Council has approved private pickle-ball courts in the industrial park and forced at least one business there to expand outside of Ketchum. There has been no planning at all on diversifying the economy. Instead, every resource has gone into subsidizing tourism, to the extent of taxing local tourism workers to subsidize their employers. If we keep going all in on tourism, why are we surprised that we have such a crappy wage scale here?
Greg, What has changed in the valley in the last 20 yrs? Think real hard.
Wonder what has driven wages down in the valley? As someone in the construction sector for the last 35yrs it’s as obvious as the nose on your face but nobody will address the obvious so enjoy what you created.
You are spot on. Non-statistical surveys are the modus opera for Ketchum to rationalize its tourism subsidization agenda. If they care so much about the broader workforce, why have they never even surveyed employers? They have a pattern of seeking reinforcement of their own biases and rejection of data that does not conform to their bias. To wit, the recent traffic study that they binned.
There's a worker shortage not a work force housing shortage. There is no future here not only for young people but semi-professionals. So how are local businesses and air headed politician going to create that?
You see no correlation there? There is a worker shortage because many of the jobs do not pay enough to cover rent or mortgages. If you are making $25 per hour 40 hours a week and get paid PTO for a full 52-week annual salary of $52,000. Take (at a minimum) 20% off for taxes you are down to $41,600. You are lucky enough to find a rental @ $2000 per month you’re down to $17,600 so you have a remaining budget of $1354 a month or $338.50 per week. This to pay for utilities, auto, gas, food, medical, clothes and miscellaneous other expenses. When housing cost you over 65% of your income there is a serious problem.
*Exactly*
Is this anything really new?
How were survey respondents selected? If self selected, probably not a a valid sample.
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