Big new development could help local homebuyers, but affordability is still an issue.

It’s no secret: It’s hard to find affordable housing in Monterey County. But the recent opening of the East Garrison housing development on the former Fort Ord – and an improving market – could mean good things for prospective buyers.

East Garrison, which opened March 1, promises to bring an extra 1,400 homes to the county – the largest local housing development in the past decade. Plus, says Monterey County Association of Realtors CEO Sandy Haney, brokers are reporting an increase in home listings as owners come off the uncertainty of the Great Recession.

“People are finally listing their properties, which will probably stabilize the median price,” she says.

That median price, locally: somewhere around $500,000 (though that number is somewhat skewed by the sales of pricey million-dollar homes). The hefty price tag means only 29 percent of prospective Monterey County buyers can afford to buy those homes, according to a February report by the California Association of Realtors, which tracks affordability.

That’s an improvement from 2005 when only 14 percent percent of homebuyers could afford the median-price due to wild demand, Haney says.

Online real estate brokerage Redfin offers a bleaker assessment. According to their statewide analysis based on school teacher salaries, less than 3 percent of the homes on the market in Monterey County now are affordable to middle-class workers, like teachers.

The analysis centers on the idea that a monthly home payment shouldn’t exceed 28 percent of a person’s gross monthly income. In Monterey County, where the median teacher salary is $65,000, the maximum affordable home price would be $240,000, according to Redfin analyst Tommy Unger.

“Home ownership is out of reach for most working Californians,” he says.

East Garrison is now offering homes that weigh in around the state median in the mid $400,000s. At that range, a buyer needs to have a household income of $89,000 for the homes to be affordable, according to CAR.

There are, however, lending options and incentives to help homebuyers meet their needs, Haney says. And, she adds, half the homes on the market are below the median rate.

Jim Fletcher, COO of East Garrison’s developer UCP, says the development has committed 20 percent of its stock to low – to moderate-income housing, from townhouses to apartments. Affordable housing developer MidPen Housing opened the 65-unit apartment building Manzanita Place on East Garrison land last fall, and those are already occupied – plus there’s a waiting list, Fletcher says.

The timeline to complete the bigger 244-acre community, which will include neighborhood parks, a library and potentially a school, depends on demand and economic conditions. Fletcher offered a conservative estimate of between 10 and 20 years. But he was pleased with the initial public response to this month’s grand opening.

“We’ve had an enormous positive reaction,” Fletcher says. “Almost overwhelming.”