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March 28, 2007
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Linda Wright, president of community relations at US Bank, helps kick off a
HOST Development's campaign to create 1,000 new homeowners in Portland
and maintain support of Portland Public Schools with a growing population of
children.
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HOST Development celebrate its 300th homeowners, Darryl and Alisha Kelley, at a housewarming ceremony at the
young couple's new home.
Keeping Local Neighborhoods Affordable
HOST to create
1,000 new
homeowners
T ed G ilbert
F or the P ortland O bserver
by
A t a tim e w hen h o m eo w n ersh ip
rates are the highest in the c o u n try ’s
history. Portland sig nificantly lags be-
h in d th e n a tio n a l a v e r a g e o f
hom eo w n ersh ip . T he gap w idens fu r­
th er for m inority populations.
A s housing prices have sk y rock­
eted in P ortland, w orking class in­
com es have not kept pace, and m any
fam ilies have had to m ove out o f the
city to places w here hom e prices are
m ore affordable.
As a result o f fam ily flight, Portland
Public School enrollm ent has dropped,
w h ich has e x a c e rb ate d the school
d istric t's funding problem s and raised
the co n tentious issues o f school c lo ­
sures and surplus property sales.
In this m arket w here few er and
few er w orking class fam ilies can af­
ford to buy a hom e, H O ST D evelop­
m ent is com m itted to providing afford­
able housing for P ortlanders earning
70 percent to 100 percent o f the m e­
dian fam ily incom e.
T he largest nonprofit cham pion o f
h o m eow nership in O regon. H O ST re­
cently announced its new B uilding
B locks cam paign. T he effort will c re ­
ate 1,000 new hom eow ners in Port­
land by 2017 and will cap tu re and
preserve 2,000 children fo r Portland
Public Schools.
New Homes Offer Mixed Picture
H O ST uses a private sector m odel
to acquire and develop land. It keeps
prices low by securing pro-bono o r at-
cost w ork from real estate and co n ­
struction professionals, and partnering
w ith banks, foundations and trade o r­
ganizations. P rivate sector p artn er­
ships have allow ed H O ST to b u ild a n d
sell 30 0 hom es.
H O S T ’s B uilding B locks cam paign
will double the o rg a n iz a tio n 's d ev el­
opm ent output from 50 hom es per
year to an average o f 1(X). m aking
H O S T one o f the r e g io n 's largest
hom ebuilders.
A dding 100 h om es per y e a r to
P o rtla n d 's real estate m arket that are
not only green but also affordable will
let fam ilies stay in the city and im prove
their quality o f life.
Ted Gilbert is lifelong Portlander.
In 1080 lie and three other real estate
professionals recognized the need to
provide affordable workforce hous­
ing: together they founded HOST
(Home Ownership a Street at a Time)
Development and recently celebrated
their 300th homeowner.
Jump for joy in a
Home of Your Owg!
Construction in
the housing
market rose last
month, but
permits for
future building
are down.
The pace of U.S. home construc­
tion rose a sharp 9 percent in Feb­
ruary but permits for future build­
ing slid, according to new data that
shed little light on whetherthe hous­
ing market was stabilizing.
The unexpectedly large boost
in home construction reversed a
sharp decline a month earlier — a
swing that some attributed to an
unusually warm Decem ber and
cold January.
The Commerce Department said
"It's a surprise that the (cold) housing starts set an annual pace
weather didn't kill off starts," said of 1.525 million units in February
Kurt Karl, chief economist at Swiss compared with a 1.399 million unit
RE in New York.
pace in January. That was the sharp­
While the national home starts est month-over-m onth increase
figure was up, he said the picture since a 13.1 percent rise in January
was mixed across the country.
2006.
"The gains in the South and West
Building permits, which signal
made up for the drops in the North­ future construction plans, fell 2.5
east and Midwest." said Karl.
percent in January.
Jump on your homeownership dreams -
PDC specializes in making them a reality:
R em o d elin g sin ce R etro
• Free workshops for future home buyers
w as co n tem p o ra ry .
• Home loans for first-time buyers
• Homebuyer assistance programs
• Property tax abatement programs-
and a whole lot more.
No matter what look you’re going for, you’ll find the going easier when you work
with Neil Kelly. Call today, and experience the difference that experience makes.
PDC
D E S IG N /B U ILD REMODELING
CUSTOM HOMES
WINDOWS & DOORS
HANDYMAN HOME REPAIR TEAM
______________ 5 0 3 - 2 8 8 - 7 4 6 1
täi
Financing provided by
Riverview.
•
Call 503-823-3400 or learn more on
our web site at www.pdc.us/jump.
Investing, in
P nrtkntf< b nhtrr
w w w .n e llk e lly .c o m
Your Partner for Home Purchase, Repair & Renoration
Portland 503 221 5801
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