US housing affordability remained near 18-year record high for the third consecutive quarter in Q3 2009, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI).
Housing affordability remained high due to the low interest rates and low prices. In particular, according to the latest HOI release, 70.1% of all homes sold in Q3 2009 were affordable to households earning the national median income of $64,000. This represents an increase of 14 percentage points compared to Q3 2008 when only 56.1% of homes were affordable to households earning the national median income.
US housing affordability varied considerably across metropolitan areas. According to the metro-specific HOI results, which cover 227 major markets, Kokomo, IN, Springfield, OH and Bay City, MI were the most affordable with 96.7%, 96.1%, and 96.0% of the houses sold in Q3 2009 being affordable to households earning each area's median household income.
The graph below portrays the 20 most affordable US housing markets in Q3 2009 as measured by the NAHB/Wells Fargo HOI.
US Housing Affordability: 20 Most Affordable Metros in Q3 2009
Source: NAHB/Wells Fargo
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