{"id":123504,"date":"2021-06-24T23:18:20","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T06:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=123504"},"modified":"2021-06-24T23:18:20","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T06:18:20","slug":"home-affordability-declines-for-average-workers-across-u-s-in-second-quarter-as-prices-soar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=123504","title":{"rendered":"Home Affordability Declines For Average Workers Across U.S. In Second Quarter As Prices Soar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Irvine, CA… ATTOM<\/a>, curator of the nation’s premier property database, today released its second-quarter 2021 U.S. Home Affordability Report, showing that median home prices of single-family homes and condos in the second quarter of this year are less affordable than historical averages in 61 percent of counties across the nation with enough data to analyze. That was up from 48 percent of counties in the second quarter of 2020, to the highest point in two years, as home prices have increased faster than wages in much of the country.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The report determined affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to meet monthly home ownership expenses \u2014 including mortgage, property taxes and insurance \u2014 on a median-priced single-family home, assuming a 20 percent down payment and a 28 percent maximum “front-end” debt-to-income ratio. That required income was then compared to annualized average weekly wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (see full methodology below).<\/p>\n

Compared to historical levels, median home prices in 347 of the 569 counties analyzed in the second quarter of 2021 are less affordable than past averages. The latest number is up from 275 of the same group of counties in the second quarter of 2020 – a backslide that developed amid a 22 percent spike in the median national home price over the same period last year to a record of\u00a0$305,000<\/span>.<\/p>\n

While major ownership costs on median-priced homes do remain within the financial means of average workers across the nation in the second quarter of 2021, the percentage of counties where affordability is worse than historical averages has hit its highest point since the second quarter of 2019.<\/p>\n

The latest pattern \u2013 home prices still manageable but getting less affordable \u2013 has resulted in major ownership costs on the typical home consuming 25.2 percent of the average national wage of\u00a0$63,986<\/span>\u00a0in the second quarter of this year. That is up from 22.7 percent in the first quarter of 2021 and 22.2 percent in the second quarter of last year, to the highest point since the third quarter of 2008. Still, the latest level is within the 28 percent standard lenders prefer for how much homeowners should spend on mortgage payments, home insurance and property taxes.<\/p>\n

Those mixed trends in the second quarter have developed during a 12-month period in which a glut of home buyers chasing a tight supply of homes for sale has spiked prices in most parts of the nation. The surge has come amid rock-bottom home-mortgage rates and a desire of many households largely untouched by the financial damage caused by the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic to seek the relative safety of a house and yard and more space for developing work-at-home lifestyles. Mortgage rates below 3 percent have helped cushion the impact of rising prices, but not enough to prevent the cost of home ownership from getting closer to the unaffordable benchmark.<\/p>\n

“Average workers across the country can still manage the major expenses of owning a home, based on lender standards. But things have gone in the wrong direction this quarter in a majority of markets as the national housing market boom roars onward,” said\u00a0Todd Teta<\/span>, chief product officer with ATTOM. “While super-low mortgage rates have certainly helped in a big way, prices have simply shot up too much to maintain historic affordability levels. The near future of affordability remains very uncertain, as it has throughout the pandemic. ATTOM continues to watch those trends closely. For the moment, the situation is a mix of positive and negative trends.”<\/p>\n

View Q2 2021 U.S. Home Affordability Heat Map<\/a><\/p>\n

A majority of markets still require less than 28 percent of wages to buy a home
<\/b>Major ownership costs on median-priced homes in the second quarter of 2021 consume less than 28 percent of average local wages in 327 of the 569 counties analyzed in this report (57 percent).<\/p>\n

Counties requiring the smallest portion are\u00a0Schuylkill County, PA<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Allentown<\/span>) (5.5 percent of annualized weekly wages needed to buy a home);\u00a0Bibb County<\/span>\u00a0(Macon<\/span>), GA (8 percent);\u00a0Cambria County, PA<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Pittsburgh<\/span>) (8.2 percent);\u00a0Macon County<\/span>\u00a0(Decatur<\/span>), IL, (9.1 percent) and\u00a0Peoria County, IL<\/span>\u00a0(10.4 percent).<\/p>\n

Among the 43 counties in the report with a population of at least 1 million, those where home ownership typically consumes less than 28 percent of average local wages in the second quarter of 2021 include\u00a0Wayne County<\/span>\u00a0(Detroit<\/span>), MI (10.7 percent);\u00a0Cuyahoga County<\/span>\u00a0(Cleveland<\/span>), OH (12.9 percent);\u00a0Philadelphia County, PA<\/span>\u00a0(18.1 percent);\u00a0Harris County<\/span>\u00a0(Houston<\/span>), TX (20.2 percent) and\u00a0Franklin County<\/span>\u00a0(Columbus<\/span>), OH (21 percent).<\/p>\n

A total of 242 counties in the report (43 percent) require more than 28 percent of annualized local weekly wages to afford a typical home in the second quarter of 2021. Counties that require the greatest percentage of wages are\u00a0Kings County<\/span>\u00a0(Brooklyn<\/span>), NY (100.8 percent of annualized weekly wages needed to buy a home);\u00a0Marin County, CA<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0San Francisco<\/span>) (81.4 percent);\u00a0Santa Cruz County, CA<\/span>\u00a0(76.2 percent);\u00a0Queens County, NY<\/span>\u00a0(68.7 percent) and\u00a0Monterey County, CA<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0San Francisco<\/span>) (65.9 percent).<\/p>\n

Aside from\u00a0Kings County, NY<\/span>, and\u00a0Queens County, NY<\/span>, counties with a population of at least 1 million where home ownership consumes the highest percentage of average annualized local wages in the second quarter include\u00a0Nassau County, NY<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0New York City<\/span>) (63 percent);\u00a0Orange County, CA<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Los Angeles<\/span>) (59.2 percent) and\u00a0Alameda County<\/span>\u00a0(Oakland<\/span>), CA (54 percent).<\/p>\n

Home prices up at least 10 percent in almost two-thirds of country
<\/b>Median single-family home prices in the second quarter of 2021 are up by at least 10 percent from the second quarter of 2020 in 348, or 61 percent, of the 569 counties included in the report. Counties were included if they had a population of at least 100,000 and at least 50 single-family home and condo sales in the second quarter of 2021.<\/p>\n

Among the 43 counties with a population of at least 1 million, the biggest year-over-year gains in median prices during the second quarter of 2021 are in\u00a0San Bernardino County, CA<\/span>\u00a0(up 25 percent);\u00a0Mecklenburg County<\/span>\u00a0(Charlotte<\/span>), NC (up 24 percent);\u00a0Maricopa County<\/span>\u00a0(Phoenix<\/span>), AZ (up 21 percent);\u00a0Hillsborough County<\/span>\u00a0(Tampa<\/span>), FL (up 20 percent) and\u00a0Middlesex County<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Boston<\/span>), MA (up 20 percent).<\/p>\n

Counties with a population of at least 1 million that have the smallest year-over-year increases (or price declines) in the second quarter of 2021 are\u00a0New York County<\/span>\u00a0(Manhattan<\/span>), NY (down 21 percent);\u00a0Wayne County<\/span>\u00a0(Detroit<\/span>), MI (down 2 percent);\u00a0Bronx County, NY<\/span>\u00a0(up 2 percent);\u00a0Kings County<\/span>\u00a0(Brooklyn<\/span>), NY (up 3 percent) and\u00a0Santa Clara County<\/span>\u00a0(San Jose<\/span>), CA (up 4 percent).<\/p>\n

Price gains outpace wage growth in almost three-quarters of markets
<\/b>Home-price appreciation is greater than annualized wage growth in the second quarter of 2021 in 409 of the 569 counties analyzed in the report (72 percent), with the largest including\u00a0Los Angeles County, CA<\/span>;\u00a0Harris County<\/span>\u00a0(Houston<\/span>), TX;\u00a0Maricopa County<\/span>\u00a0(Phoenix<\/span>), AZ;\u00a0San Diego County, CA<\/span>, and\u00a0Orange County, CA<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Los Angeles<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Average annualized wage growth is outpacing home-price appreciation in the second quarter of 2021 in 160 of the 569 counties in the report (28 percent), including\u00a0Cook County<\/span>\u00a0(Chicago<\/span>), IL; Kings\u00a0County (Brooklyn<\/span>), NY;\u00a0Bexar County<\/span>\u00a0(San Antonio<\/span>), TX;\u00a0Santa Clara County<\/span>\u00a0(San Jose<\/span>), CA, and\u00a0Wayne County<\/span>\u00a0(Detroit<\/span>), MI.<\/p>\n

Annual wages needed to afford median-priced home exceed\u00a0$75,000<\/span>\u00a0in less than 20 percent of markets
<\/b>Annual wages of more than\u00a0$75,000<\/span>\u00a0are needed in the second quarter of 2021 to afford the typical home in just 104, or 18 percent, of the 569 markets in the report.<\/p>\n

The top 20 highest annual wages required to afford the typical home are all on the east or west coasts, led by\u00a0San Mateo County<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0San Francisco<\/span>), CA\u00a0($246,090)<\/span>;\u00a0Marin County<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0San Francisco<\/span>), CA\u00a0($245,914)<\/span>;\u00a0San Francisco County, CA<\/span>\u00a0($237,588)<\/span>;\u00a0New York County<\/span>\u00a0(Manhattan<\/span>), NY\u00a0($212,246)<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0Santa Clara County<\/span>\u00a0(San Jose<\/span>), CA\u00a0($220,850)<\/span>.<\/p>\n

The lowest annual wages required to afford a median-priced home in the second quarter of 2021 are in\u00a0Schuylkill County, PA<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Allentown<\/span>)\u00a0($9,055)<\/span>;\u00a0Cambria County, PA<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Pittsburgh<\/span>)\u00a0($12,688)<\/span>;\u00a0Bibb County<\/span>\u00a0(Macon<\/span>), GA\u00a0($13,415)<\/span>;\u00a0Robeson County, NC<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Fayetteville<\/span>)\u00a0($16,951)<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0Chautauqua County, NY<\/span>\u00a0(outside Buffalo)\u00a0($17,977)<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Homeownership less affordable than historic averages in almost two-thirds of counties
<\/b>Among the 569 counties analyzed in the report, 347 (61 percent) are less affordable in the second quarter of 2021 than their historic affordability averages, up from 48 percent of the same group of counties that were less affordable historically in the second quarter of 2020.<\/p>\n

Counties with a population of at least 1 million that are less affordable than their historic averages (indexes of less than 100 are considered less affordable compared to historic averages) include\u00a0Mecklenburg County<\/span>\u00a0(Charlotte<\/span>), NC (index of 77);\u00a0Dallas County, TX<\/span>\u00a0(80);\u00a0Oakland County, MI<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Detroit<\/span>) (81);\u00a0Fulton County<\/span>\u00a0(Atlanta<\/span>), GA (82) and\u00a0Tarrant County<\/span>\u00a0(Fort Worth<\/span>), TX (82).<\/p>\n

Counties with the worst affordability indexes in the second quarter of 2021 include\u00a0Delaware County, PA<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Philadelphia<\/span>) (index of 48); Rankin County (Jackson<\/span>), MS (52);\u00a0Canyon County, ID<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Boise<\/span>) (59);\u00a0Montgomery County<\/span>\u00a0(Dayton<\/span>), OH (63) and\u00a0Gaston County, NC<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Charlotte<\/span>)\u00a0(67).<\/p>\n

Among counties with a population of at least 1 million, those where the affordability indexes worsened annually are\u00a0Mecklenburg County<\/span>\u00a0(Charlotte<\/span>), NC (index down 14 percent);\u00a0San Bernardino County, CA<\/span>\u00a0(down 14 percent);\u00a0Wake County<\/span>\u00a0(Raleigh<\/span>), NC (down 11 percent);\u00a0Hillsborough County<\/span>\u00a0(Tampa<\/span>), FL (down 11 percent) and\u00a0Maricopa County<\/span>\u00a0(Phoenix<\/span>), AZ (down 11 percent).<\/p>\n

Roughly 40 percent of markets are more affordable than historic averages
<\/b>Among the 569 counties in the report, 222 (39 percent) are more affordable than their historic affordability averages in the second quarter of 2021, down from 51 percent of the same group in the second quarter of last year.<\/p>\n

Counties with a population of at least 1 million that are more affordable than their historic averages (indexes of more than 100 are considered more affordable compared to historic averages) include\u00a0New York County<\/span>\u00a0(Manhattan<\/span>), NY (index of 159);\u00a0Montgomery County<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Washington, D.C.<\/span>), MD (118);\u00a0Suffolk County, NY<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0New York City<\/span>) (113);\u00a0Santa Clara County<\/span>\u00a0(San Jose<\/span>), CA (109) and\u00a0Fairfax County, VA<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Washington, D.C.<\/span>) (108).<\/p>\n

Outside of\u00a0New York County, NY<\/span>, counties with the best affordability indexes in the second quarter of 2021 include\u00a0Schuylkill County, PA<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Allentown<\/span>) (index of 201);\u00a0Macon County<\/span>\u00a0(Decatur<\/span>), IL (175);\u00a0Ontario County<\/span>\u00a0(outside\u00a0Rochester<\/span>), NY (157) and\u00a0Bibb County<\/span>\u00a0(Macon<\/span>), GA (155).<\/p>\n

Counties with a population of least 1 million residents where affordability indexes improved the most, year over year, are\u00a0New York County<\/span>\u00a0(Manhattan<\/span>), NY (index up 40 percent);\u00a0Santa Clara County<\/span>\u00a0(San Jose<\/span>), CA (up 10 percent);\u00a0Wayne County<\/span>\u00a0(Detroit<\/span>), MI (up 8 percent);\u00a0Bronx County, NY<\/span>\u00a0(up 4 percent) and\u00a0Kings County<\/span>\u00a0(Brooklyn<\/span>), NY (up 3 percent).<\/p>\n

Report Methodology
<\/b>The ATTOM Data Solutions U.S. Home Affordability Index analyzes median home prices derived from publicly recorded sales deed data collected by ATTOM Data Solutions and average wage data from the\u00a0U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a>\u00a0in 569 U.S. counties with a combined population of 250.8 million. The affordability index is based on the percentage of average wages needed to pay for major expenses on a median-priced home with a 30-year fixed rate mortgage and a 20 percent down payment. Those expenses include property taxes, home insurance, mortgage payments and mortgage insurance. Average 30-year fixed interest rates from the\u00a0Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey<\/a>\u00a0were used to calculate the monthly house payments.<\/p>\n

The report determined affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed for major home ownership expenses on a median-priced home, assuming a loan of 80 percent of the purchase price and a 28 percent maximum “front-end” debt-to-income ratio.\u00a0For example, the nationwide median home price of\u00a0$305,000<\/span>\u00a0in the second quarter of 2021 required an annual wage of\u00a0$57,594<\/span>, based on a\u00a0$61,000<\/span>\u00a0down payment, a\u00a0$244,000<\/span>\u00a0loan and monthly expenses not exceeding the 28 percent barrier \u2014 meaning households would not be spending more than 28 percent of their income on mortgage payments, property taxes and insurance. That required income was less than the\u00a0$63,986<\/span>\u00a0average wage nationwide based on the most recent average weekly wage data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, making a median-priced home nationwide affordable for average workers.<\/p>\n

About<\/b>\u00a0ATTOM
<\/b>ATTOM<\/a>\u00a0provides premium\u00a0property data<\/a>\u00a0to power products that improve transparency, innovation, efficiency and disruption in a data-driven economy. ATTOM multi-sources property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, and neighborhood data for more than 155 million U.S. residential and commercial properties covering 99 percent of the nation’s population. A rigorous data management process involving more than 20 steps validates, standardizes, and enhances the\u00a0real estate data<\/a>\u00a0collected by ATTOM, assigning each property record with a persistent, unique ID \u2014 the ATTOM ID. The 20TB ATTOM Data Warehouse fuels innovation in many industries including mortgage, real estate, insurance, marketing, government and more through flexible data delivery solutions that include\u00a0bulk file licenses<\/a>,\u00a0property data APIs<\/a>,\u00a0real estate market trends<\/a>, and more. Also,\u00a0introducing our latest solution, that offers immediate access and streamlines data management \u2013\u00a0ATTOM Cloud.<\/a><\/p>\n

SOURCE ATTOM Data Solutions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Irvine, CA… ATTOM, curator of the nation’s premier property database, today released its second-quarter 2021 U.S. Home Affordability Report, showing that median home prices of single-family homes and condos in the second quarter of this year are less affordable than historical averages in 61 percent of counties across the nation with enough data to analyze. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":123506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,20,1,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-featured","category-news","category-real-estate","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/ATTOM_LOGO.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=123504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/123506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=123504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=123504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=123504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}