Source: News Nation —
(The Hill) — Fewer than a quarter of homes listed for sale nationwide qualified as affordable for the typical U.S. household, according to a new report shared exclusively with The Hill.
The report, released Friday by real estate brokerage Redfin, found that the number of affordable listings in 2022 fell by more than half from the previous year — the largest annual drop on the company’s record dating back to 2013.
Redfin analyzed home listings in the nation’s 100 most populous metros, marking a listing as affordable if its estimated monthly mortgage payment did not exceed 30 percent of the local county’s median income.
“Housing affordability is at the lowest level in history, which is widening the wealth gap—especially between generations,” said Redfin deputy chief economist Taylor Marr.
“Many millennials were able to buy homes before or during the pandemic homebuying boom, but many others were priced out of homeownership and forced to keep renting,” Marr added.
This was due largely to a combination of persistently high prices and surging mortgage rates, which peaked late last year.
Yelena Maleyev, an economist with KPMG, told The Hill the duo of high prices and high mortgage rates have drastically eroded affordability even though prices have come down from the pandemic peak.
“That kind of double whammy, that double pain that folks are feeling, [is] keeping them essentially sidelined for longer … especially those who are maybe at the lower income level or the first-time buyer that can’t sell an existing home and use that money to buy that move-up home,” she said.
Yet it’s not only mortgage rates and high prices impacting buyers.
