WASHINGTON – Due to dropping home prices and interest rates holding historically low levels, the number of potential home buyers nationwide who can afford to buy new and existing homes has reached the highest level in more than four years, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI).
According to the third-quarter HOI readings, 56.1% of all new and existing homes that were sold were affordable to families earning the national median income of $61,500, far more than the 40.4% of families who could afford homes at the peak of the housing boom.
“If there is a silver lining to this crisis, it would be that some housing markets have become more affordable with a larger inventory to choose from,” said NAHB Chairman Sandy Dunn, a home builder from Point Pleasant, WV. “But this is undeniably a crisis and Congress needs to act on housing stimulus to get the market moving again.”
The two most affordable major housing markets in the country during the third quarter of the year were Indianapolis, IN, and Youngstown, OH, according to the HOI. In both Indianapolis and Youngstown, 91.0% of homes sold in the third quarter were affordable to families earning the areas’ median household incomes of $65,100 and $52,000, respectively.
New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ, was the nation’s least affordable major housing market for the second consecutive quarter. In the New York market, 10.6% of the new and existing homes sold during the third quarter were affordable to those earning the area’s median family income of $63,000.
Visit www.nahb.org/hoi for tables, historic data and details.
Read more.
According to the third-quarter HOI readings, 56.1% of all new and existing homes that were sold were affordable to families earning the national median income of $61,500, far more than the 40.4% of families who could afford homes at the peak of the housing boom.
“If there is a silver lining to this crisis, it would be that some housing markets have become more affordable with a larger inventory to choose from,” said NAHB Chairman Sandy Dunn, a home builder from Point Pleasant, WV. “But this is undeniably a crisis and Congress needs to act on housing stimulus to get the market moving again.”
The two most affordable major housing markets in the country during the third quarter of the year were Indianapolis, IN, and Youngstown, OH, according to the HOI. In both Indianapolis and Youngstown, 91.0% of homes sold in the third quarter were affordable to families earning the areas’ median household incomes of $65,100 and $52,000, respectively.
New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ, was the nation’s least affordable major housing market for the second consecutive quarter. In the New York market, 10.6% of the new and existing homes sold during the third quarter were affordable to those earning the area’s median family income of $63,000.
Visit www.nahb.org/hoi for tables, historic data and details.
Read more.
Have something to say? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.