More than a quarter of Atlanta households spent more than half of their incomes on housing

http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/2015/09/25/ajc-politifact-rates-apn-editors-housing-claim-true/

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“We reached out to Cardinale to ask his source, and he pointed us to a 2015 update of last year’s Atlanta’s housing strategy report,” the AJC wrote.

“A chart on page 10 of the report, shows about 27,000 households that make $20,000 or less and another 13,000 households with incomes between $20,000 and $35,000 spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing in 2012,” the AJC wrote.

“Cardinale would have been on target with an even more dramatic claim: More than a quarter of Atlanta households spent more than half of their incomes on housing,” the AJC wrote.

“For somewhere between $1,400 and $4,000 a month, you can rent in the luxury apartment complex Inman Quarter in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward… But you’ll also need to earn at least $48,000 – and up to $160,000 – a year to afford skyline views without spending more than 30 percent of your income on a (fancy) roof over your head,” the AJC wrote.

“The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Census Bureau both consider those who pay more than that to be ‘cost burdened,’ since they may have difficulty paying for other necessities such as food and medical care,” the AJC noted.

“Housing advocates, including Atlanta Progressive News CEO Matthew Charles Cardinale, worry that those people are getting lost in the newly energized Atlanta housing market,” the AJC noted.

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