On average, housing costs consume more than the recommended amount of a household's wages, leaving many homeowners stressed about their finances.
Home affordability is on the decline in much of the U.S. According to the Q1 2025 U.S. Home Affordability Report from property analytics provider ATTOM, the cost to own a median-priced home currently consumes 32% of the average national wage. This is largely unchanged from Q4 2024, although about one percentage point up from a year ago. It is typically recommended by most lenders that home costs not exceed 28% of a household’s total wages.
This trend has been consistent over the past four years, with housing cost growth continuing to outpace wage growth. Since 2021, housing expenses have either grown faster or declined less than wages in 14 of the last 16 quarters.
The current and historic affordability levels represent the latest measures of how home ownership remains a financial stretch for average workers around the nation. It comes as the national median home price has dipped slightly this quarter, to $351,000, during the typically slow Winter home-buying season. But with home mortgages rates still near 7 percent, the drop-off is too small to push the ratio of ownership expenses to wages back into the affordable range. Read more
