VOA标准英语2009年-High Cost of Housing in US, Unable to

Millions of Americans have been unable to pay the mortgage on their houses and have had to leave them. Many are now renting, but are finding it difficult financially

Owning your home was once part of the American dream.  But that dream has faded because of the economic recession in the United States.  Millions of Americans have been unable to pay the mortgage on their houses and have had to leave them.  Without a home of their own, many people are now renting, but this also can be difficult financially.

Until recently, Brenda Ganaway lived in a home of her own in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb close to Washington, D.C.  But then the economic crisis hit and she was unable to keep paying the mortgage on her house.  "We were behind on a few payments and we couldn't get a loan anywhere, so they just immediately foreclosed it and told us we had a certain amount of days to leave," she explained.

There are millions of people like Brenda Ganaway in America now.  Raphael Bostic is the assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD.  He says the number of Americans who own their homes is steadily¹ dropping.  "The homeownership rate in the United States used to be somewhere close to 70 percent. We've fallen off by several million households now," he said. "And so the rate is down considerably². And a lot of those have now gone into the rental³ market."

Renting does have some advantages over home ownership.  If a renter wants to move, for example, he does not have to worry about finding a buyer for the house. 

Yazgul Odekova manages a rental property in Alexandria.  She says the major reason people rent is that it is usually less expensive than owning a home. "People rent for different reasons. Number one is affordability," she said. "It is cheaper to rent and it is risk-free."

Renting is cheaper for many reasons, says Arun Shu.  He is an international businessman who rents a home near Washington.  He says there are many costs to owning a house besides paying the monthly mortgage. "If you decide to buy a house, a lot of expenses are involved. Not only payment if you take a mortgage, but also you have to pay property tax, maintenance and upkeep of the house," he said. "You probably will want to spend some money on renovating⁴ the house, remodeling parts of the house if you buy [a] used house."

But even renting can be difficult in today's market, especially in big cities.  Danilo Pelletiere is an official at the National Low Income Housing Coalition⁵.  He says there just are not enough homes to rent and poor people are the most affected⁶.  "In the United States there has been a focus both at the local level and a national level on home ownership.  That affected renters, low-income people and the like and a result you have shortage of three million units of affordable⁷ housing for lowest income people," he said.  

Even if a house is available, Mr. Pelletiere says, being able to pay for it is another problem.  To afford the rent, he says, many poor people work more than one job.  "Today you need multiple minimum wage jobs to be able to afford a two-bedroom apartment," he added.  "We calculated about $18 an hour."

Even if a person can afford the rent there are other obstacles.  Yazgul Odekova, the property manager in Alexandria, says most people just do not meet the necessary qualifications, such as being able to prove they can afford the rental payments. "Right now from every 10 application we turned down nine. It is not just because people are dishonest. Sometimes people have big medical bills, sometimes people have bankruptcy⁸, because suddenly they became sick and don't have health insurance. Sometimes peoples' income is very low, sometimes it is unstable⁹ relationship between people," Odekova said.

HUD's Raphael Bostic says the U.S. government has programs to help low-income families pay the rent.  "We provide direct subsidy¹⁰ where we try to make sure that families are not overly burdened [so we don't wanna go over that 30 percent ratio], but that they can get into some decent high-quality housing," Bostic said.

But most analysts¹¹ agree that until the U.S. economy improves, buying a home or renting one will be especially hard for low-income people. 
 

1 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

2 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

3 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

4 renovating   

翻新，修复，整修( renovate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The increased production was largely attained by renovating old orchards and vineyards. 通过更新老果园和葡萄园，使生产大大增加。
• Renovating that house will cost you a pretty penny. 为了整修那所房子，你得花很多钱。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

8 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

9 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

10 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。