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The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) released the results of their index today, noting that housing affordability nationwide received a boost for Q1 2015 due to low home prices and interest rates. The index measures the quarterly percentage of homes sold in a given area that are affordable to families earning the area’s median income.
“Consumers benefitted from continued low mortgage rates and some fall in the price of homes sold in the first quarter, as these conditions offer a great time to buy,” said Tom Woods, NAHB chairman and home builder from Blue Springs, Missouri.
According to the index, 66.5 percent of new and existing homes that were sold between January and March were affordable to families with a median income $65,800. This was an increase from Q4 results of 62.8 percent of homes sold that were affordable to families with a median income.
“The past two quarters have seen an improvement in affordability as mortgage rates remain low,” said David Crowe, NAHB chief economist. “Eighty-five percent of the metropolitan areas measured experienced an increase in affordability. Along with favorable home prices and pent-up demand, this broad improvement should help encourage more buyers to enter the marketplace.”
The index also revealed that the national median home price dropped from $215,000 in the fourth quarter to $210,000 in the first quarter and the average mortgage interest declined from 4.29 percent to 4.03 percent.
Syracuse, New York was at the top for the nation’s most affordable housing market for the second quarter in a row, the index says. Of all new and existing homes sold, 95.6 percent were affordable to families earning the area’s median income of $68,500. Toledo, Ohio, St. Louis, Missouri, Akron, Ohio, and Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pennsylvania were followed among the most affordable major housing markets.
California was found to be the least affordable housing market in the index. Among these markets are Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Salinas, Napa, San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, and Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta.
View the full index visit: NAHB.org
