A family earning the nation’s median income of $104,200 needs 36% of its income to cover the mortgage payment on a median-priced new home, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Cost of Housing Index.
Low-income families, defined as those earning only 50% of median income, would have to spend 71% of their earnings to pay for the same new home.
A typical family would have to pay 37% of their income for a median-priced existing home, while a low-income family would need to pay 74% of their earnings to make the same mortgage payment, according to NAHB.
“While the housing affordability crisis persists, builders have been working diligently to make new homes more affordable by reducing square footage, lowering prices and offering a host of buyer incentives,” NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes said in a statement. “The Cost of Housing Index shows these efforts have moved the needle in the right direction, but much more needs to be done on the policy front to reduce regulatory burdens, address construction labor shortages and ease building material supply chains to allow builders to increase the nation’s housing supply.”
The second quarter of 2025 marked the largest historical gap where existing home prices exceeded those of new homes, NAHB says.
Read the full report here.
