U.S. Housing More Affordable Than Ever
For much of the country, housing prices are their most affordable in roughly four decades, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. The Housing Affordability Index, which tracks back to 1971, hit a record high of 158.8 in December, meaning that a family with the median income has 158.8 percent of the income…
For much of the country, housing prices are their most affordable in roughly four decades, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. The Housing Affordability Index, which tracks back to 1971, hit a record high of 158.8 in December, meaning that a family with the median income has 158.8 percent of the income required to qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced home. Before your get too excited, remember that since that New York City has lagged the rest of the nation in the down-cycle, housing in the Big Apple probably isn’t quite as affordable as this chart would suggest.
Housing Affordability at Record High [NY Times]
yeah right. According to the index houses were affordable during the whole bubble. Heck they are affordable most ost of the time.
Well said, Ledbury. The National Association of Realtors will never say it is not a good time to buy. Their job is to tell people it is always a good time to buy. This is one of the tools of the trade.
It is a bad time to buy in New York City, but try getting a Corcoran agent to admit that obvious truth. There is a lot of pain in the market between here and the bottom.
Gotta love the realtors. Forget NYC vs non NYC, there is so much wrong with this chart. The thing that strikes me most though is that the central conceit of the whole thing is completely faulty. The whole equation is self fulfilling. They take average incomes against average sales prices, but filter it through average lending standards. As prices rise, lending standards relax and give you an affordable result. As prices fall lending standards may tighten, but median income probably won’t change much (though median wealth probably will) and thus you again have a nice “affordable” result.
“it applies to NYC in that it’s a sign of things to come.”
Money quote.
***Bid half off peak comps***
it applies to NYC in that it’s a sign of things to come.
Not just a stretch. This does not apply in any way, shape, or form to NYC.
It would definitely be a stretch to try to apply this to current NYC prices.