Affordability Index Favors Home Buyers

For the first time in five years, resale homes rose to 90.3 percentage points in April, according to the National Assn. of Realtors’ Housing Affordability Index.

The index increased 0.6 percentage points from March to April, following increases of 2.1 percentage points in February and 0.9 percentage point in March.

The April index meant that a family earning the median income had 90.3% of the income needed to qualify for a mortgage covering 80% of the median resale-home price. The qualification guidelines used in the index are those set by the Federal National Mortgage Assn., which requires that annual mortgage principal and interest payments total no more than 25% of a borrower’s yearly income.