Published by FOX Business | July 5, 2023
Home prices jump in 98% of U.S. counties as affordability plummets
Housing affordability in the U.S. declined again in the spring as home prices surged nationwide, according to new data from real estate analytics firm ATTOM.
The findings show the price of a median single-family house surged to $350,000 in the second quarter, a 10 percent jump from the previous quarter, one of the biggest increases in the past decade.
That price is also two percent above last year’s peak, according to the report, before the spike in mortgage rates cooled demand among would-be homebuyers.
The portion of average wages required to own a home, meanwhile, skyrocketed to 33 percent in the period from April to June. That marks the highest debt-to-income ratio since 2007, meaning the market is the least affordable for Americans in nearly two decades.
The lack of affordability is widespread across the country, with prices rising in about 98 percent of counties when compared to historical averages.
“The U.S. housing market has done an about-face following a downturn that threatened to usher in an extended period of flat or falling prices. With that has come another blow to how much house the average worker around the country can afford,” ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said in a statement. “Whether this is just a temporary blip amid this year’s peak buying season or a sign of another extended price surge is anyone’s guess.”
The Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest-rate hike campaign sent mortgage rates soaring above seven percent for the first time in nearly two decades, and rates have been slow to retreat.
