Housing is more affordable!

National Association of Realtors Announces Housing Affordability Highest in 18 Years

This is one of the best times to purchase a home in decades. This week the National Association of Realtors underscored that fact with the release that nationwide housing affordability jumped 10 percentage points during the first quarter of 2009 to its highest level since the series began 18 years ago, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). The HOI showed that 72.5% of all new and existing homes sold in the first quarter of 2009 were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,000, up from 62.4% during the previous quarter and up from 53.8% during the first quarter of 2008.

Locally, the story is similar. In the Ogden-Clearfield area, 74.4% of all new and existing homes sold in the first quarter of 2009 were affordable to families earning the area’s median income of $68,500. That’s up 5% from the previous quarter and up 13% from the same period a year ago.

In Provo-Orem, 65.3% of all homes sold were affordable to families earning the median income of $62,900. That’s up 12% from the previous quarter and up 21% from the same period a year ago.

In Salt Lake, 65.9% of all homes sold were affordable to families earning the median income of $67,800. That’s up 7% from the previous quarter and up almost 20% from the same period a year ago.