Why has homeownership become increasingly out of reach for first-time homebuyers in high-cost markets? How does attainable housing differ from traditional affordable housing for first-time homebuyers? What long-term community benefits can attainable housing create for first-time homebuyers and beyond?
First-time homebuyers face unprecedented challenges in today’s high-cost markets, where rising home prices, stagnant wages, and competition from investors have made traditional entry points into homeownership nearly impossible. This blog explores why the solution is not simply building more affordable housing, but instead developing attainable housing—homes designed for middle-income earners who fall between subsidy eligibility and market-rate affordability. By focusing on innovative design, strategic locations, and development models that reduce costs without relying on subsidies, attainable housing provides sustainable, market-driven pathways for first-time homebuyers.
The blog also highlights how attainable housing plays a vital role in strengthening communities. Beyond creating opportunities for first-time homebuyers, attainable housing supports economic diversity, reduces displacement pressures, and fosters stronger local economies. From mixed-income developments to incentive programs and public-private partnerships, communities are finding creative ways to expand attainable housing. Ultimately, this approach ensures that essential workers, young professionals, and moderate-income families can live where they work, build wealth through homeownership, and contribute to long-term neighborhood resilience.
Over the past couple of decades, the housing crisis has evolved from a low-income challenge to a middle-class dilemma. Today’s housing landscape presents unprecedented barriers for first-time homebuyers, particularly in high-cost markets where traditional pathways to homeownership have become increasingly inaccessible.
In this article, we’ll explore this complex issue and examine why the solution isn’t simply more affordable housing. The real answer lies in attainable housing—homes designed for the “missing middle” of income earners who fall between subsidy eligibility and market-rate affordability.
Table of Contents:
Introduction to Attainable Housing
The Unique Challenges in High-Cost Markets
Why Attainable Housing Matters for First-Time Buyers
Attainable vs. Affordable Housing: Where They Intersect
The Role of Attainable Housing in Community Sustainability
How Communities Are Providing Solutions
Long-Term Benefits Beyond the Individual Homebuyer
Introduction to Attainable Housing
Attainable housing represents a critical but often misunderstood segment of the housing continuum. In federal policy, “affordable housing” generally means a household spends no more than 30% of its income on housing (including utilities). In many instances, program eligibility tiers (e.g., 30/50/80% of Area Median Income) are used for specific programs, with many (like LIHTC) commonly targeting households at or below ~60% of AMI. In planning practice, “attainable” is often used for middle-income households around 80–120% of AMI.
With that said, I prefer the term “attainable” over “affordable” in broader conversations about housing access because it more accurately captures the market dynamics at play. While affordable housing relies on subsidies to reduce costs below market rate, attainable housing achieves affordability through innovative design, strategic location, and development approaches that bring costs down without requiring ongoing public support. This market-based approach can scale faster and serve a broader population than traditional subsidized housing programs.
Many communities also recognize the importance of Below Market Rate (BMR) housing as part of their affordability initiatives. BMR programs, like those implemented in San Francisco, Marin County, and throughout the Bay Area, require developers to include a percentage of units priced below market rate in new developments. In San Francisco, ownership BMR tiers commonly include 90%, 120%, and 140% of AMI with long-term resale restrictions; Marin jurisdictions likewise peg “moderate” eligibility around 120% of AMI with recorded resale limits.
The Unique Challenges in High-Cost Markets
High-cost markets face a perfect storm of conditions that make homeownership increasingly challenging for first-time homebuyers. Home prices have risen dramatically faster than wages—a trend that has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2024, the national home price-to-income ratio was about 5.0—matching the record high first hit in 2022—compared with 4.1 in 2019 and an average of ~3.2 in the 1990s.
The inventory picture is “improving but still tight.” Existing-home listings were up about 20% year-over-year in March 2025 to 1.33 million, while Realtor.com reported active inventory up roughly 28–32% YoY this spring—yet levels remain below pre-pandemic norms (about 13–20% under 2017–2019 baselines). First-time buyers have been experiencing a record low in their market share, with the percentage reaching “a historic low of 24%” in 2024 after a brief rebound to 32% in 2023
The wage-to-home-price gap has also reached alarming proportions in many metropolitan areas. By 2024, buyers needed a $100,000+ household income to afford a median-priced home in 53% of metro areas, up from 11% in 2021. This rapid shift has fundamentally altered the landscape for entry-level buyers, making traditional starter homes effectively luxury purchases.
Competition from investors and all-cash buyers further disadvantages first-time homebuyers. Repeat buyers enter the market with significant advantages, including larger down payments from home equity and the ability to make competitive cash offers. This dynamic has created a two-tier market where first-time homebuyers are systematically outbid for available inventory, regardless of their qualifying income levels.
Why Attainable Housing Matters for First-Time Buyers
Attainable housing creates essential entry points into homeownership without requiring first-time homebuyers to compete primarily in the luxury market segment. In many high-cost metropolitan areas, what were once considered middle-tier homes now command prices that require household incomes well above the median. Attainable housing developments provide alternatives that remain within reach of essential workers, young professionals, and moderate-income families.
In my experience, the wealth-building implications of homeownership cannot be overstated. It remains the primary vehicle for middle-class wealth accumulation in the United States, and first-time homebuyers who are locked out of this opportunity face long-term economic consequences that extend far beyond housing costs. When teachers, nurses, police officers, and other essential workers cannot afford to buy homes in the communities where they work, both individual economic mobility and community stability suffer.
Attainable housing also reduces long-term community displacement pressures. Without housing options that middle-income residents can afford, communities risk losing the diversity of income levels that contribute to vibrant, sustainable neighborhoods. I’ve seen communities where the absence of attainable options has led to a hollowing out of the middle class, leaving only very low-income subsidized housing and high-end market-rate units.
Attainable vs. Affordable Housing: Where They Intersect
I’ve noticed the distinction between affordable and attainable housing often creates confusion among policymakers and the public, but understanding this difference is crucial for developing effective housing strategies. BMR housing programs occupy an important middle ground in meeting the needs of households that qualify for assistance. These initiatives require developers to sell or rent a percentage of units in new developments at below-market rates to moderate-income buyers.
Attainable housing serves a broader audience (often middle-income buyers earning 80-120% of AMI) who don’t qualify for subsidies but are still priced out of the market. This “missing middle” represents a substantial portion of the workforce in high-cost markets, including teachers with graduate degrees, experienced trades workers, young professionals, and dual-income households that would have been solidly middle-class in previous generations.
The key insight I’ve gained from working with diverse communities is that both affordable and attainable housing are necessary components of a balanced housing ecosystem. Neither alone can solve the housing crisis, but together they can provide pathways to stability and wealth-building across income levels.
The Role of Attainable Housing in Community Sustainability
Sustainable communities require economic diversity, and attainable housing plays a crucial role in maintaining this balance. When I analyze successful metropolitan areas, they consistently feature housing options that support a range of income levels, allowing teachers, first responders, service workers, and young professionals to live in the communities where they work.
Without attainable housing options, communities face economic “homogenization” that undermines long-term viability. I’ve observed markets where the lack of moderately-priced housing has created unsustainable commuting patterns, labor shortages in essential services, and social stratification that weakens community cohesion.
Attainable housing encourages local economic growth by enabling more residents to live near their workplaces. This proximity reduces transportation costs for families while supporting local businesses and services. The economic multiplier effects are significant: when moderate-income workers can afford to live locally, they spend money in neighborhood businesses, their children attend local schools, and they participate in civic life.
The data support this relationship between housing diversity and economic resilience. Communities with a range of housing price points weather economic downturns more effectively than those dominated by either high-end or subsidized housing alone.
How Communities Are Providing Solutions
Forward-thinking communities are implementing innovative planning strategies to increase the attainable housing supply. Mixed-income developments represent one of the most promising approaches, combining market-rate, attainable, and affordable units in single projects. This integration prevents the concentration of poverty while ensuring that moderate-income families have access to well-located housing with good schools and amenities.
Incentive programs for builders to include attainable housing units are becoming increasingly sophisticated. These might consist of density bonuses, fee reductions, expedited permitting, or tax incentives that offset the costs of providing below-market units. The key is structuring these incentives so that developers can deliver attainable housing while maintaining project feasibility.
Public-private partnerships offer another promising avenue. These collaborations leverage public land, financing, or regulatory flexibility with private sector development expertise to create attainable housing that neither sector could deliver independently. I’ve seen successful examples where public agencies provide land at below-market cost in exchange for long-term affordability commitments.
Communities are also contributing to attainable housing through expanded BMR programs. These initiatives require or incentivize developers to include below-market-rate housing units that serve moderate-income buyers. The most effective BMR programs include resale restrictions that ensure long-term affordability while allowing homeowners to build some equity over time.
Long-Term Benefits Beyond the Individual Homebuyer
The community benefits of attainable housing extend far beyond individual homeownership opportunities. Neighborhoods with diverse housing options typically demonstrate stronger social cohesion, as residents from different income levels interact in schools, community organizations, and local businesses. This diversity creates more resilient social networks and reduces the isolation that can occur in economically homogeneous areas.
Increased civic engagement represents another significant benefit. Homeowners, regardless of income level, demonstrate higher levels of community involvement than renters. When first-time homebuyers can access attainable housing, they develop long-term stakes in community outcomes and are more likely to participate in local governance, school activities, and neighborhood organizations.
Diverse ownership patterns also help fuel economic resilience. Communities with a range of housing price points and ownership structures weather economic downturns more effectively than those dependent on single income levels or housing types. During the 2008 financial crisis, neighborhoods with mixed housing options generally maintained stability better than those concentrated at either the high or low end of the market.
Conclusion
The crisis facing first-time homebuyers in high-cost markets requires solutions that go beyond traditional affordable housing programs. Attainable housing provides a market-based approach to serving the missing middle: moderate-income workers who earn too much for subsidies but too little to compete in today’s inflated housing market.
As housing professionals, policymakers, and community leaders, we must embrace attainable housing as an essential component of healthy housing ecosystems. This means supporting mixed-income development, innovative financing mechanisms, and regulatory reforms that enable the private market to deliver housing that serves the full spectrum of community needs.
The path forward requires recognizing that attainable housing is not a luxury or afterthought—it is fundamental infrastructure for sustainable communities. Just as we invest in transportation systems, utilities, and schools, we must prioritize housing options that allow essential workers, young families, and moderate-income households to build wealth and contribute to community life.
We have an opportunity to create more inclusive, economically diverse communities through thoughtful, attainable housing strategies. The question is whether we will seize this opportunity or continue to accept a housing market that serves only the extremes of income distribution. For the sake of first-time homebuyers and community sustainability alike, the answer must be clear: attainable housing is not optional—it is essential.
