Rising prices in much of the United
States caused the house affordability to drop slightly, according to the new
National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index.
The newest index showed 73.8 of all
new and existing homes sold in the second quarter could be purchased by
families earning the nation’s $65,000 median income. The figure is down from
the record 77.5 percent of houses that were deemed affordable in the first
quarter of 2012.
The NAHB said 92 percent of metro
areas saw house prices rise.
"While interest rates and overall housing
affordability remain very favorable on a historic basis, the decline in the latest
HOI is a positive development because it is another signal that the housing
recovery is starting to take root, and it lends needed confidence to
prospective buyers and sellers who have been reluctant to move forward in the
current marketplace," said NAHB Chairman Barry Rutenberg, a home builder
from Gainesville, Fla.
The market with the most affordable housing market was Youngstown-Warren-Boardman,
Ohio-Pa., according to the index. An estimated 93.4 percent of homes there were affordable to families
earning $55,700, the region’s median income.
The least affordable market was New York- White
Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. Only 29.4 percent of families with a median $68,300 income
can afford a home in the New York City metropolitan area.
