The statistics about home prices are alarming ["Price tags for homes in fat lane," News, Aug. 19].

In Suffolk County, new buyers will spend 56 percent of their average wage on a median-priced home, nearly double what the Department of Housing and Urban Development recommends. Additionally, young adults have seen a 22 percent drop in wages since 1970, hindering their ability to achieve the upward mobility possible in their parents' generation. Long Island is not facing an affordability gap; it is facing an affordability crisis.

Every year, Long Island loses $700 million in read more ››

Local developers are calling for a change in how the state reviews housing projects that receive tax breaks from Industrial Development Agencies, saying the review criteria undermine the construction of affordable units.

The Association for a Better Long Island, which represents real estate developers, has requested that IDA-supported housing projects be judged on the number of units created, not the number of permanent jobs created and/or retained. The latter criteria have been used for years by state agencies to judge the effectiveness of IDAs.

Housing developments read more ››