Middle-class buyers are seeing fewer homes for sale that they can afford given rising home prices, higher interest rates, flat incomes and fewer foreclosed homes on the market.
Trulia considers homes affordable for middle-class buyers if their total monthly payment — after a 20% down payment and including taxes and insurance — is less than 31% of their metro area's median household income.
Affordability isn't as good as it was last year because home prices and interest rates are both higher. Home prices nationally were up 12.4% in August year-over-year, CoreLogic says. Trulia's study assumes a 4.5% fixed rate for a 30-year mortgage vs. 3.5% last year.
What's more, there are fewer lower-priced homes for sale in many of the metros given the receding foreclosure crisis.
In August, 12% of existing home sales were distressed homes, down from 23% last year, the National Association of Realtors says.
The drop-off in affordable homes for middle-class buyers is widespread, falling or flattening in 99 metros since last October. Only Rochester, N.Y., saw a slight gain. Some cities are seeing faster declines than others.
(CLICK CHART below to open the interactive version)
Read the full story HERE.
If you like what you see, please "Like" us on Facebook either here or here.
Please follow us on Twitter here.
Please follow us on Twitter here.
No comments:
Post a Comment