Housing Was at Its Most Affordable in Two Years at the Start of 2015

A report jointly prepared by Clear Capital and RealtyTrac found that homes were at the most affordable level in two years in the first quarter of 2015.

This affordability was despite the average U.S. home price increasing “at more than twice the pace of the average weekly wage nationwide,” HousingWire reports. Falling interest rates and slowing home price growth factor in the first quarter’s housing affordability.

Data was obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Clear Capital’s Home Data Index.

“At the national level, buying an average-priced home in the first quarter of 2015 was the most affordable it’s been in two years and nearly twice as affordable as it was in the second quarter of 2006 — when affordability was its worst in the past 10 years,” Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, told HousingWire.

“At the local level we’re seeing several bellwether markets where wage growth matched or even outpaced home price growth over the past year,” he added.

Read more