DENVER (KDVR) — Housing is the most unaffordable it’s been in three decades, according to the National Association of Realtors.
In a report, the association details that homes have risen in price dramatically in the last two years, the result of decades of underbuilding homes and sky-high demand.
Inflation-related interest rates spiked in the spring, which tacked hundreds of dollars onto potential monthly mortgage payments. Wages, meanwhile, stagnated, making homes all but unaffordable for first-time homebuyers. The association’s June affordability index was 98.5 – the lowest since 1989.
Income has dragged behind the amount of money it costs to buy and pay off a home.
Buyers are paying more both for the skyrocketing costs of homes themselves and the interest on the home’s loan.
Mortgage interest rates rose from 3.15% last December to 5.60% in June. Meanwhile, the median home sales price went from $365,300 to $423,000.
Assuming a 30-year fixed rate mortgage and a 20% down payment, buyers last December could expect a $1,256 monthly payment. In June, that median-priced home would need $1,944 a month.
In order to afford this, the average American household needs to bring home a lot more bacon.
“Qualifying income” predicts what a household would need to afford a home. If a family put 20% down on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, it’s the income level needed to pay no more than 25% of monthly income on mortgage payments.
A household must make 55% more now than last year in order to afford a home. The national qualifying income for a median priced home in the U.S. rose from $60,288 at the end of 2021 to $93,312 this June.