The Census Bureau has a report out. "The burden of housing costs in nearly every part of the country grew sharply from 2000 to 2005, according to new Census Bureau data. The numbers vividly illustrate the impact, often distributed unevenly, of the crushing combination of escalating real estate prices and largely stagnant incomes."

"'Housing prices have gone up much more than incomes have,' said Christopher Jones, vice president for research at the Regional Plan Association in New York City. 'Clearly, you can’t sustain that sort of imbalance over the long run. There’s only so long that housing prices can go up without sustained increases in income to support them.'"

"In Clifton, N.J., the percentage of mortgage holders spending at least 50 percent of their income on housing rose to 27 percent in 2005 from 12 percent in 2000, a 134 percent rise. In New Britain, Conn., the group paying at least 30 percent more than doubled, rising to 57 percent of people with mortgages, up from 27 percent."

From New Jersey.com. "People's pocketbooks didn't benefit from the boom. Between 2000 and 2005, median household income fell by an average of 13 percent in Passaic County, when adjusting for inflation. Nationally, incomes dropped by 2.8 percent during the same period. But they still bought homes. The number of new mortgages in Passaic County increased by more than two-thirds between 2000 and 2005."

"Many turned to exotic mortgages in order to afford their home. New Jersey had one of the highest concentrations of these nontraditional mortgages, according to a federal Government Accountability Office report. 'These people were totally taken advantage of by programs that weren't for them,' said Jenna Triano of a West Paterson company that assists those on the brink of foreclosure."

"Income ratios have also been stretched. Whereas lenders have traditionally advised clients that their monthly mortgage payment shouldn't exceed 36 percent of gross income, some lenders have pushed that to more than 60 percent, Wendi Nastasi said. 'Every day there's more and more foreclosures being filed,' said Charles Barbarow, a Totowa-based Realtor."

The Chicago Tribune. "A growing number of Chicago-area residents who spend more than a third of their gross income on housing, crossing a traditional threshold of affordability, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report."

"For Maria Salvedra and her husband, a soaring property tax bill, included in their mortgage payment as part of an escrow agreement--drove housing costs beyond 60 percent of their monthly income. 'We are thinking of getting rid of the house and renting somewhere else,' said Salvedra."

"Janet Smith, a University of Illinois at Chicago demographer, said more people have been signing on to mortgage loans they can't really afford. 'There are people who are paying four or five times their [annual] income,' for a home, Smith said. Alternative loan packages, such as interest-only loans, allowed people to qualify for much-more-expensive homes than traditional guidelines would have, she said."

The Sun Sentinel. "One in five Palm Beach County homeowners last year spent at least half their monthly gross household income on housing, according to census figures released today. That's up sharply from 2000, when about one in every eight homeowners spent half of their monthly income on such costs."

'"I've had to tighten my belt. We don't go out much,' said retiree Ed Fuller, who bought his house west of West Palm Beach three years ago. Fuller has a $2,200 monthly mortgage payment, about $100 more than his monthly income. He draws from his 401(k) account to make ends meet, but knows that money will dry up before his mortgage is paid off."

"Ed Kessner of Kessner Financial Inc. in Boca Raton said federal guidelines of devoting between 28 percent and 36 percent of income to housing costs are passé. 'Most of the lenders I'm working with are allowing people to go up to 40 percent, 45 percent and even up to 50 percent if they've got good credit,' Kessner said."

"Oregon homeowners are spending a greater amount of their income for housing than at the start of the decade, according to Census Bureau data. 'People are willing to bet more of their incomes on housing if they think that housing prices will rise,' said Portland economist Joe Cortright, adding that people bought for 'offensive' and 'defensive' during the housing boom that followed the dot-com crash."

"'It's offensive if you think, 'Hey, I'm going to be able to sell this and make money at some point,' Cortright said. 'The other thing is defensive: I don't really want to buy now but I better buy now before prices rise any more.'"

The Contra Costa Times. "The Bay Area is home to some of the nation's highest housing values, a higher percentage of them are stretching to afford a home here than in most of the rest of the country, new census figures show. In Pleasanton, which the Census Bureau recently ranked as having the wealthiest households among cities of 65,000 or more, nearly 43 percent of homeowners were paying what the federal government considers too much for their housing."

"Families who pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing are considered 'cost burdened' by the federal government."

"Lenders and real estate experts said home buyers in the Bay Area are used to paying more for housing than home buyers elsewhere. They 'are going to make the lifestyle change necessary to own a home, which may mean that 50 percent of their income goes to their mortgage. ... (They) don't go out to dinner, they don't go shopping anymore. It's about changing their lifestyle,' said Andrea Lanier, a mortgage broker in San Mateo."

The Modesto Bee. "Anna Coley said her family is in their dream home now: a new $505,000 five-bedroom house with 2,833 square feet bought this year in northeast Modesto. 'It is a struggle, and money is tight,' Coley said. She and her husband pay $2,325 monthly for mortgage, property taxes and insurance, plus hundreds more for electricity, gas, water and sewer. 'We could move to Texas or Arizona and live for a lot less, but we want to live here.'"