Report: Widespread Affordability Not Likely to Reverse

As home prices continue climbing, ""CoreLogic"":http://www.corelogic.com/ assures us housing is still affordable and any concerns that rising prices will make it not so are unfounded.

[IMAGE]

""Nationally, housing affordability couldn't be better,"" CoreLogic stated in its latest ""_MarketPulse_"":http://www.corelogic.com/downloadable-docs/MarketPulse_2013-July.pdf?WT.mc_id=prnw_130716_ORRdu released Tuesday.

CoreLogic measures affordability by comparing median household incomes to the income needed to acquire a 30- [COLUMN_BREAK]

year, fixed-rate mortgage with 20 percent down and a debt-to-income ratio of 25 percent.

""Because mortgage rates are, by historic standards, still low, housing remains highly affordable, even with the recent impressive increase in prices,"" the analysts said.

After reaching a low in June 2006, housing affordability has been on the rise. Falling prices and falling interest rates contributed to the increase.

Since the recession, household incomes have also begun to grow, according to CoreLogic.

In fact, CoreLogic points out housing is so affordable compared to historic levels that prices would need to rise 47 percent higher or interest rates would need to climb to 6.75 percent for affordability to reach levels seen between 2000 and 2004.

Thus, ""there is still a long way to go before housing again becomes unaffordable,"" CoreLogic stated.

There are two exceptions to the widespread affordability across the nation: The District of Columbia and Hawaii are currently considered ""unaffordable.""