By:Dennis Norman
Today the National Association of Home Builders released their most recent Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) which showed that an increasing number of potential homebuyers in the US can afford to buy a home. As a result of decreasing prices and attractive interest rates (two of the factors the index takes into account) affordability of new and existing homes is now at the highest level it has been in over 4 years.
According to the HOI report over 56% of all new and existing homes that were sold in the 3rd quarter of this year were affordable to families that earn the median annual income for the US of $61,500. This is a significant increase from the forty-something percent of homes that met this benchmark over the past few years.
The HOI report identified the following large metropolitan areas as some of the most affordable:
Springfield,OH –92.9% of Sales Affordable
Wheeling,WV-OH 92.3% of Sales Affordable
Mansfield,OH –91.6% of Sales Affordable
Cumberland,MD-WV –91.5% of Sales Affordable
The HOI Report also identified the following as the LEAST affordable metro areas:
New York City &White Plains, NY –10.6% of Sales Affordable
Wayne,New Jersey –10.6% of Sales Affordable
San Luis Obispo &Paso Robles,CA - 13.4% of Sales Affordable
San Francisco,San Mateo &Redwood City,CA –16.6% of Sales Affordable
Nassau-Suffolk,NY –19.2% of Sales Affordable
I guess it’s no surprise that the Midwest is more affordable than the coasts although there are areas in every region of the US that are very affordable….OK,well maybe all but the West Region. Below are the most affordable areas in each of the 4 regions of the US according to the HOI report:
Northeast:
>Binghamton,NY –84.6% of Sales are affordable
Midwest:
>Springfield,OH –92.9% of Sales are affordable
South:
>Wheeling,WV-OH –92.3% of Sales are affordable
West:
>Pocatello,ID –78.2% of Sales are affordable
LIke I said,the West is still a challenge…nothing against Idaho,but I have to confess when I think of the west I’m thinking California…unfortunately most metropolitan areas in California ranked pretty low in affordability….In defense of California I think I’m going to look for a national index that ranks metro areas by quality of wine produced in the area! I know California would be at the right end of that list!
The bottom line is houses are getting more affordable and this is good news…Afterall the american dream is owning a home and that dream has been a little shattered in the past year or so…it is good to see the dream is still alive and within reach of more americans…
Related posts:
- Housing affordability slips in June;but homes still very affordable
- Home Affordability Index Indicates Housing Most Affordable in Over 40 years
- Some Housing Markets Getting Hot Again
- Where is the most expensive housing market in the U.S.? How about most affordable housing market?
- Pending Home Sales Declines Again In January
