Nonprofit disputes metro housing costs

Homeowners in the greater metropolitan area, which includes Long Island, paid a median $1,517 in monthly housing costs, while renters paid $1,019, according to 2009 U.S. Census Bureau survey data released Tuesday, but local experts said housing costs are higher on Long Island.

"Mortgage payments on Long Island are well over $2,000," said Diana Weir, executive vice president of the Long Island Housing Partnership, a Hauppauge-based nonprofit group that provides affordable housing opportunities to moderate-income, first-time home buyers.

Noting the metropolitan area identified by the Census Bureau includes not only Long Island, but also New York City's five boroughs and Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties, Weir said the average housing costs were "skewed" by the inclusion of areas with lower costs than Long Island, such as upstate Orange County.

Peter Elkowitz, president of the housing partnership, said Long Islanders living in affordable homes are paying between $1,485 and $1,500 a month in mortgage payments. "That's subsidized homes."

According to the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island, in January the median closing price in Nassau was $420,000 and in Suffolk, $318,750.

Other Long Island homeowners, Weir said, are paying a monthly mortgage that averages around $2,200 to $2,500. And when property taxes and utility costs are factored in - which the survey includes in computing monthly mortgage payments - housing costs are even higher on the Island, she noted.

Fair-market rents on Long Island, meanwhile, are $1,348 for a one-bedroom unit; $1,600 for a two-bedroom and $2,100 for a three-bedroom, Weir said.

The bureau's American Housing Survey, which the Census Bureau conducts for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, also provides information on the characteristics of the housing stock and queries residents about how satisfied they are with their homes and neighborhoods.

In the metro area, the survey said, 35 percent of homeowners did not have a mortgage, and most responding to the survey reported being generally content with where they live: 66 percent rated their homes highly - scoring them an 8, 9 or 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 - and 24 percent rated their homes a 10.