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Indianapolis Shines As Most Affordable Housing Market
Indianapolis retained its standing as the most affordable major U.S. housing market for a ninth consecutive quarter in the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI).
Meanwhile, nationwide housing affordability during this year’s third quarter rose on a year-over-year basis but was down slightly for the quarter due to higher mortgage rates.
"The third-quarter HOI reading indicates that 42% of all new and existing homes that were sold during the third quarter were affordable to families earning the national median income of $59,000," said NAHB President Brian Catalde. "This reflects a slight improvement in affordability from a year ago, when only 40.4% of homes were within reach of median income-earners, but is just below the 43.1% of homes that were affordable to median income-earners in this year's second quarter."
The HOI indicates that the national weighted interest rate on fixed and adjustable-rate mortgages — a key component in calculating the HOI — was 6.73% in the third quarter, compared to 6.44% in the second quarter.
In the nation's most affordable major housing market of Indianapolis, 87.5% of homes sold in the third quarter were affordable to families earning the area's median household income of $63,800.
Also near the top of the list for affordable major metros were Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich.; Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa.; Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; and Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich., in that order.
Among smaller metro markets with fewer than 500,000 people, Kokomo, Ind. outranked all others in terms of housing affordability during the third quarter — with 90.5% of all homes sold affordable to families earning that area's median household income of $59,700.
Also maintaining its long-held standing on the HOI was Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., which has now been the nation's least-affordable major housing market for a dozen consecutive quarters. There, just 3.7% of new and existing homes sold during the third quarter were affordable to those earning the area's median family income of $61,700.
Other major metros at the bottom of the housing affordability chart included Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif.; San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif.; New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J.; and Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y., in that order.
Among metro areas smaller than 500,000 people, every entry at the bottom of the affordability chart was located in California, starting with Napa as the least affordable and followed by Salinas, San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, Santa Cruz-Watsonville, and Merced, Calif., respectively.
Webcast of NAHB Fall Construction Forecast Available Till Feb. 5
The webcast of the NAHB Fall Construction Forecast Conference held in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 24. is available for purchase through Feb. 5.
The conference webcast includes panels of nationally recognized experts discussing economic trends, government policies, developments in the housing industry and the results from NAHB's recent surveys.
Purchasers will receive unlimited access to the webcast archive though Feb. 5, as well as electronic copies of the conference handouts and presentation material. Purchasers can watch at their own pace, rewind, fast forward and review important sections.
To Purchase the Webcast
To purchase the webcast, visit www.nahb.org/cfcwebcast.
For more information, contact Kate Carrigan at NAHB, or call her at 800-369-5242 x8244.
 Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros?
Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2008 to 2009 Metro Forecast (free preview).
Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables.
To learn more, visit www.HousingEconomics.com.
 Free NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips to Navigate the Slowdown
What was once expected to be a relatively mild housing slump following three years of record new home construction and sales has given way to a significant downturn.
To help members navigate the uncharted waters of this slowdown, NAHB has compiled a comprehensive “Back to Basics” online toolkit — the best of the basics, the tried and true and the truly new. To access the toolkit, click here.
To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.
For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.
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