Housing Affordability
The 25 most-affordable and 25 least-affordable U.S. housing markets in the fourth quarter, according to the National Assn. of Home Builders. The number corresponding to each area is the percentage of the homes sold that were within reach of the median income household at the prevailing mortgage interest rate. The index measures the proportion of homes sold in a specific market that a family earning the median income could afford. The index also takes into consideration differences in property taxes and insurance rates. The latest list was based on a survey of 525,000 sales of new and existing homes in 192 metropolitan areas.
MOST AFFORDABLE
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Metro Area Percent Lima, Ohio 86.2% Elkhart, Ind. 85.3 Baton Rouge, La. 84.7 Kansas City 83.4 Melbourne, Fla. 83.1 Fort Wayne, Ind. 82.5 Champaign, Ill. 82.5 Binghamton, N.Y. 82.0 Albany, N.Y. 81.8 Vineland, N.J. 81.7 Pensacola, Fla. 81.7 Mansfield, Ohio 81.6 Springfield, Ill. 80.8 Jackson, Miss. 80.7 Nashua, N.H. 80.4 Duluth, Minn. 80.2 Ocala, Fla. 80.0 Minneapolis 79.9 Lincoln, Neb. 79.9 Utica, N.Y. 79.8 Davenport, Iowa 79.7 Kalamazoo, Ind. 79.7 Reading, Pa. 79.6 Peoria, Ill. 79.5 Tallahassee, Fla. 79.4
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LEAST AFFORDABLE
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Metro Area Percent San Francisco 21.4% Santa Cruz, Calif. 27.8 Laredo, Texas 29.7 New York 34.6 Santa Rosa, Calif. 35.7 Portland, Ore. 36.5 Salinas, Calif. 36.6 El Paso, Texas 36.8 Provo, Utah 37.5 Honolulu 39.2 San Luis Obispo, Calif. 39.7 San Jose, Calif. 40.7 Jersey City, N.J. 40.9 Albuquerque, N.M. 41.5 New Bedford, Mass. 44.6 Yuba City, Calif. 44.9 San Diego 45.5 Austin, Texas 45.9 Oakland, Calif. 46.3 Santa Barbara, Calif. 46.8 Los Angeles 47.3 Yakima, Wash. 47.7 Salt Lake City 47.9 Lowell, Mass. 48.1 Salem, Ore. 48.7
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Source: Associated Press
