Highest Prices in the West
People looking for more affordable housing might consider Saginaw, Mich. Or Amarillo, Tex. Or Greeley, Colo. But stay away from most of California and the urban areas of the Northeast.
That’s the finding in the National Assn. of Home Builders’ latest quarterly housing opportunity index released Monday.
San Francisco ranked at the bottom of the Home Builders’ index. The survey found that only 9.2% of households can afford a home there. In fact, the 13 least affordable cities were found in California, and five other California areas were in the first 22 of the least affordable list. The nation’s most affordable housing markets during the second quarter of 1991 were clustered in the Midwest and South.
The second-quarter tabulations analyzed 350,000 sales of new and existing homes in 173 markets. The housing opportunity index is calculated using a general underwriting standard. That criterion says a household can afford a home equal to 2.8 times its annual income at the 9.25% mortgage interest rate that prevailed during the second quarter.
San Francisco is the least affordable home-buying town.
Most Affordable Markets
(starting with most affordable)
City Rank Saginaw/Bay City/ Midland, Mich.* 1 Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.*** 2 Jackson, Mich.* 3 Amarillo, Tex.* 4 Mansfield, Ohio* 5 Daytona Beach, Fla.** 6 Lansing/East Lansing, Mich.** 7 Grand Rapids, Mich.** 8 Milwaukee*** 9 Omaha, Neb.** 10 Brazoria, Tex.* 11 Youngstown/Warren, Ohio** 12 Oklahoma City** 13 Shreveport, La.** 14 Davenport/Rock Island/ Moline, Iowa/Ill.** 15 Detroit*** 16 Canton, Ohio** 17 Lakeland/Winter Haven, Fla.** 18 Nashua, N.H.* 19 Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.* 20 Tulsa, Okla.** 21 Rockford, Ill.** 22 Toledo, Ohio** 23 Minneapolis/St. Paul*** 24 Lorain/Elyria, Ohio** 25 Least Affordable Markets (starting with least affordable) San Francisco*** 173 Oxnard/Ventura** 172 Los Angeles/Long Beach*** 171 Santa Rosa/Petaluma, Calif.** 170 Salinas/Seaside/ Monterey, Calif.** 169 San Jose*** 168 Stockton, Calif.** 166 Vallejo/Fairfield/Napa, Calif.** 166 Anaheim/Santa Ana*** 165 San Diego*** 164 Oakland*** 163 Santa Barbara/Santa Maria/ Lompoc** 162 Modesto, Calif.** 161 New York*** 160 Stamford, Conn.* 159 Jersey City, N.J.** 158 Riverside/San Bernardino*** 157 Sacramento*** 156 Merced, Calif.* 155 New Bedford, Mass.* 154 Redding, Calif.* 153 Chico, Calif.* 152 Newark, N.J.*** 151 Bergen/Passaic, N.J.*** 150 New Haven/Meriden, Conn.** 149
*Population under 250,000
**Population 250,000 to 1 million
***Population over 1 million
Source: National Assn. of Home Builders
