Affordability hits home: Housing costs threaten to curb Colorado's appeal.

• Author: Jackson, Margaret
• Position: REAL ESTATE ROUNDUP

From the mountains to the plains, finding a place to call home in Colorado is increasingly challenging.

It's not just an issue for the state's poorest residents. It's tough for just about anyone trying to find a place to live that's within his or her means, and it's thrust the term "affordable housing" into daily conversation.

To be considered affordable, the rent and utilities in an apartment or the monthly mortgage payment and housing expenses for a homeowner should be less than 30 percent of a household's gross monthly income.

In Colorado, the median household income was $61,303 in 2014, according to the latest figures available from Department of Numbers. Denver's is slightly higher at $66,870.

But median rents in Colorado remain well above the national median and are continuing to climb. They're up 4.8 percent over last year, with one-bedrooms at $1,260 and two-bedrooms at $1,490, according to Apartment List. Factor in utilities, and many people are spending more than a third of their incomes on housing.

"About one-quarter of all working households (nationwide) are housing-cost burdened by paying more than 30 percent of their income," said Mindy Ault, a research associate at the National Housing Conference's Center for Housing Policy. "In Colorado, that figure is slightly lower at 18.5 percent, and for metro Denver it's just below 18 percent."

The lack of affordable housing has far-reaching impacts that go beyond people finding a place to live. Mountain resort communities, largely dependent on tourism, need a reliable work force to ensure visitors have a good experience. State economic development officials work hard to bring new businesses to the state, but it's becoming more challenging as companies discover how expensive it is for employees to find housing.

Cities and counties across the state are trying to address the housing challenge with a variety of programs.

In Summit County, several income-restricted projects are in the works, but the need is far greater than what is being delivered, said Jennifer Kermode, executive director of the Summit Combined Housing Authority. With 85 percent of the land in Summit County situated in a national forest, it's hard to find a suitable location to build. And even if there is land available, it may not be developable because projects can't be built on slopes that have an incline of more than 30 percent. Moreover, what is available and suitable is often purchased by people building second...