Housing affordability nationwide went down in the second quarter of 2014 while several markets saw a firming of home prices, according to the National Association of Home Builders Housing Opportunity Index (HOI).
Between April and June, 62.6 percent of new and existing homes sold were affordable to families earning the U.S. median income of $63,900. This is lower than the first quarter, which saw 65.5 percent of homes affordable to median-income earners.
The national median home price rose from $195,000 in the first quarter to $214,000 in the second quarter. Average mortgage interest rates dipped from 4.57 percent to 4.44 percent.
The most affordable major housing market was Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa., where 90.4 percent of new and existing homes sold were affordable for median-income earners.
The least affordable, for the seventh consecutive quarter, was San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. Only 11.1 percent of homes sold were affordable to families earning the area’s median income of $100,400.
