Public universities (in CA) build houses to lure faculty

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Public universities build houses to lure faculty

By Jennifer Coleman, Associated Press
Long Beach Press Telegram

DAVIS — It doesn't take a Ph.D. to understand that home prices in California are sky high.

The state ranks at the top for housing costs and near the bottom for the percentage of residents who can afford to buy a home. The state's median home price was $458,000 in November, about double the national figure, but prices are far higher in much of Southern California and the San Francisco Bay area, where three-bedroom homes commonly are on the market for $600,000 or more.

Such prices have made it difficult for California's public universities to attract faculty and administrators, especially those just starting their careers... The solution, employed by a few California State University and University of California campuses, was for the college to build its own community where employees can buy homes at below-market rates.

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In the 23-campus CSU system, three universities have similar housing developments Fullerton, Monterey Bay and Channel Islands in Ventura. Several others are planning them, CSU spokeswoman Clara Potes-Fellow said. The houses sell for at least 30 percent below market-rate because the university keeps ownership of the land. When employees buy, they must agree that the resale price will be limited because the rate of appreciation is restricted.

UC Irvine was the first UC to introduce such a housing program, opening University Hills in 1984. The community has 900 homes today, most of which are owned by campus employees. University officials began the project when high housing prices left them unable to recruit "the kind of faculty we wanted," said William Parker, vice chancellor for research... The average home price in Irvine was $657,000 in December, according to DataQuick, a real estate tracking firm. But at University Hills, houses sell for up to half that amount, Parker said.

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