Median home prices of single-family homes and condos in the third quarter are less affordable than historical averages in 63 percent of counties with enough data to analyze, up from 54 percent a year ago, according to ATTOM Data Solutions.
ATTOM’s third-quarter U.S. Home Affordability Report found 308 of the 487 counties analyzed in the third quarter are now less affordable, up from 262 of the same group of counties in the third quarter of 2019.
The report said median-priced homes are unaffordable for average wage earners in 61 percent of the counties analyzed.
“In a year when nothing is normal, owning a single-family home has become less affordable to average wage earners across the U.S., despite conditions that would seem to point the opposite way,” ATTOM Chief Product Officer Todd Teta said in a release.
“Wages are up, and mortgage rates are down to rock-bottom levels, which should work in favor of home buyers. On top of that, the American economy has suffered greatly since the coronavirus pandemic began surging over the Winter - a plight that normally would drop home demand and home prices,” Teta said. “But those same low mortgage rates, along with other factors, have led a lot of buyers into the market chasing a reduced supply of homes. The result is price hikes have raced past the impact of wages and mortgage rates.”
According to the report, counties in the report where the median home price is not affordable for average wage earners in the third quarter include Los Angeles County; Maricopa County (Phoenix); San Diego County; Orange County (Los Angeles); and Miami-Dade County.
The 188 counties with affordable median-priced homes in the third quarter of 2020 for average local wage earners include Cook County (Chicago); Harris County (Houston); Philadelphia County; Hillsborough County (Tampa); and Cuyahoga County (Cleveland).
ATTOM said median home prices in the third quarter of 2020 are up by at least 10 percent from the third quarter of 2019 in 252, or 52 percent, of the 487 counties included in the report.
The report said an annual wage of more than $75,000 is needed in the third quarter of 2020 to afford the typical home in 114, or 23 percent, of the 487 markets in the report.
The highest annual wages required to afford the typical home are in New York, San Francisco, San Mateo County, Calif., Marin County, Calif., and Santa Clara County, Calif.