Your inside source for real estate, development and construction information serving the counties of Mecklenburg, Union & Iredell VOLUME 97 NUMBER 108 ■ MECKTIMES.COM
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Home Affordability Slips Again For Average Workers Across U.S. In Third Quarter Amid Ongoing Price Runup National Median Home Price Rises 18 Percent to Another New High ATTOM has released its third-quarter 2021 U.S. Home Affordability Report, showing that median-priced single-family homes are less affordable in the third quarter compared to historical averages in 75 percent of counties across the nation with enough data to analyze. That is up from 56 percent of counties in the third quarter of 2020, to the highest point in 13 years, as home prices have increased faster than wages in much of the country. The report determined affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to meet monthly home ownership expenses — including
mortgage, property taxes and insurance — on a median-priced single-family home, assuming a 20 percent down payment and a 28 percent maximum “front-end” debtto-income ratio. That required income was then compared to annualized average weekly wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (see full methodology below). Compared to historical levels, median home prices in 430 of the 572 counties analyzed in the third quarter of 2021 are less affordable than past averages. The latest number is up from 317 of the same group of counties in the third quarter of 2020 – a downturn that developed as the median national home price shot up 18 percent to a record high of $315,500. While major ownership costs on median-priced homes do remain within the fi-
nancial means of average workers across the nation in the third quarter of 2021, the percentage of counties where affordability is worse than historical averages has hit its highest point since the third quarter of 2008. The latest pattern – home prices still manageable but getting less affordable – has resulted in major ownership costs on the typical home consuming 24.9 percent of the average national wage of $64,857 in the third quarter of this year. That is up from 24.3 percent in the second quarter of 2021 and 22.3 percent in the third quarter of last year. Still, the latest level is within the 28 percent standard lenders prefer for how much homeowners should spend on mort-
PLEASE SEE PRICE RUNUP ON PAGE 6
“The typical median-priced home around the U.S. remains affordable to workers earning an average wage, despite prices that keep going through the roof. Super-low interests and rising pay continue to be the main reasons why...” – Todd Teta, Chief product officer with ATTOM
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