Housing Affordability Falls Due to Economic Instability

Finding affordable housing was already a challenge for many Americans, but spiking unemployment, salary reductions, and slashed hours are making it even more difficult for the average family, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index. Though the median household income held steady and mortgage rates dropped, 61.3 percent of new and existing homes sold in the first quarter 2020 were affordable to families earning a median income of $72,900, which is down from 63.2 percent just the quarter before. Find out which housing markets were rated the most and least affordable according to the index.

Surging job losses in March stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a decline in housing affordability in the first quarter of 2020, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI).

In all, 61.3 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of January and end of March were affordable to families earning an adjusted U.S. median income of $72,900. This is down from the 63.2 percent of homes sold in the fourth quarter of 2019 that were affordable to households earning the median income of $75,500.

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