U.S. home prices are the least affordable in nearly a decade.
Affordability this quarter fell to the lowest since late 2008, Bloomberg reported. In May, the median price of a previously owned homes rose to a record $264,800.
“Home price appreciation continued to outpace wage growth, speeding up the affordability treadmill for prospective homebuyers even without the rise in mortgage rates,” said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM.
According to ATTOM data, average wage earners would need to spend 31.2 percent of income to buy a median-priced home this quarter. That’s higher than the historic average of 29.6 percent, the report said.
At the same time, borrowing money is getting more expensive. This month, the Federal Reserve said it will raise interest rates a quarter percentage point and signaled that it could raise interest rates at least twice more this year. [Bloomberg] — Meenal Vamburkar