By Bobbi-Sue Menard

THE HEADLINES are everywhere, and the topic is ubiquitous in coffee shops throughout the Okanagan: the skyrocketing price of home ownership.  

While homeowners who purchased a home in the Okanagan before the boom hit are benefitting from the rising equity; those left out of the boom are looking on in dismay as home ownership slips further and further out of reach.  

In fact, local agencies are sounding the alarm at high housing costs, saying prices are beginning to have a negative impact on the economy – as businesses cannot pay wages high enough to allow an employee to make mortgage payments.  

Churches, like every other organization, are being challenged to find new and creative ways to attract talent to pastoral staff.  

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The problem can be defined with some straightforward statistics.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says the average MLS sale price for a home in the metropolitan Kelowna area will come in at $415,000 for 2007, and is predicting the 2008 average home price to be $448,000.

The shocking increases have come in the past five years, taking the valley by storm.

A 25–year mortgage on a $400,000 dollar property with a $40,000 down payment is a whopping $2,250 per month, at an interest rate of only 5.75 percent – a barely affordable number in a two income household.

While the experience and seniority of pastoral staff has a direct bearing on the size of a salary, so does the size and financial means of the church.  

A search for salary comparisons on the internet reveals a  range between $36,000 and $56,000 per year for a pastor with 10 years experience.  

February 2008