New Data Questions Intensity of Housing Affordability Crunch

New data from First American Financial Corp. has found that the U.S. housing market does not currently have an affordability crisis on its hands, as income levels are rising with home prices.

Each month, First American's Real Home Price Index measures single-family price changes, and adjusts for homebuying power, a metric of housing affordability. New data released to HousingWire shows that "real home prices" are still down (in the double-digits) from 2007 peaks. Colorado, North Dakota, Oregon, Georgia, and Tennessee decreased least, between 15.67 percent and 30.88 percent respectively. States with the greatest decreases were mostly in the Northeast, with the exception of Florida: New Jersey, Maryland, Vermont, and Rhode Island.

Much has been said in recent months about the mounting housing affordability crisis in the U.S., including blaming it for holding back home sales, suggesting how U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson can solve the crisis and even questioning if President Donald Trump’s trade war will worsen the crisis. Are home prices increasing? Absolutely. The latest Home Price Index report from CoreLogic shows home prices increased 7 percent year-over-year and 1.4 percent monthly in March.

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