Affordability Is at 13-Year High, Realtors Say

Falling prices and rising incomes combined with virtually unchanged mortgage rates to push the typical American family’s ability to buy an existing home to its highest level in 13 years, a real estate trade group said Thursday.

The National Assn. of Realtors said its housing affordability index reached 115.6 in November, up from 113.3 in October and the highest since it hit 116.0 in December, 1977.

The 115.6 reading means that a family earning the national median income of $35,467 had 115.6% of the income needed to qualify for conventional financing covering 80% of a median-priced home costing $91,300.

The median price of an existing home dropped $1,600 from $92,900 in October, while median incomes rose $114 from $35,353.