Nation's Most and Least Affordable Housing Markets

Published May 21, 2008 | RSS Feed

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A new index was released today that details which metropolitan areas are affordable for people who have median household incomes and which are not. Read on to see which metros made the lists.

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BY BAILEY HARRIS

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) was released today. The index determines the percentage of residents who can afford a median priced home in a given area.

Without further ado, here are the least and most affordable housing markets according to the HOI:

Most Affordable Housing Markets

Metro Area	Median Home Price	Median Income	% of People Who Can Afford a Home
Kokomo, IN	$88,000	$57,400	95.3%
Lima, OH	$80,000	$56,900	95.0%
Cumberland, MD-WV	$70,000	$50,100	93.7%
Lansing-East Lansing, MI	$97,000	$62,700	93.0%
Springfield, OH	$76,000	$54,500	92.6%
Battle Creek, MI	$75,000	$54,600	92.0%
Wheeling, WV-OH	$79,000	$45,800	91.5%
Bay City, MI	$80,000	$53,700	90.2%
Indianapolis, IN	$106,000	$65,100	90.1%
Monroe, MI	$133,000	$66,200	90.0%

Source: National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI)

As always, the most affordable housing markets are concentrated in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. More than 90 percent of the people who live in the metros on this list can afford a median priced home.

Least Affordable Housing Markets

Metro Area	Median Home Price	Median Income	% of People Who Can Afford a Home
Los Angeles-L Bch-Glendale, CA	$412,000	$59,800	10.5%
New York-W Plains-Wayne, NJ-NY	$490,000	$63,000	12.5%
San Francisco-S Mateo-R City, CA	$680,000	$94,300	12.7%
Salinas, CA	$393,000	$64,800	13.1%
San Luis Obispo-P Robles, CA	$425,000	$67,000	13.8%
Napa, CA	$449,000	$79,600	15.8%
Miami-Miami Bch-Kendall, FL	$300,000	$49,200	16.5%
Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA	$470,000	$84,100	17.4%
Santa Barbara-S Maria-Goleta, CA	$380,000	$65,200	19.6%
Nassau-Suffolk, NY	$420,000	$97,100	20.1%

Source: National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI)

The Los Angeles area tops the list of the least affordable housing markets for the 14th consecutive time. Only 10 percent of the people who earn the median household income of $59,800 can afford a median priced home.

It is interesting to note that homes in Los Angeles sell for almost five times more than homes in Kokomo, IN (the most affordable housing market.) Yet, the median household income for both areas is almost exactly the same.

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