Homeownership further out of reach as rising prices, high mortgage rates widen affordability gap - eviltoast
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apnews.com

A homebuyer now needs to earn at least $114,000 a year to afford a $431,250 home – the national median listing price in April, according to data released Thursday by Realtor.com

The analysis assumes that a homebuyer will make a 20% down payment, finance the rest of the purchase with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, and that the buyer’s housing costs won’t exceed 30% of their gross monthly income — an often-used barometer of housing affordability.

Based off the latest U.S. median home listing price, homebuyers need to earn $47,000 more a year to afford a home than they would have just six years ago. Back then, the median U.S. home listing price was $314,950, and the average rate on a 30-year mortgage hovered around 4.1%. This week, the rate averaged 6.76%.

  • TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world
    1·
    2 days ago

    Upzoning and removing red tape increases the supply of land where you can build a multi-family unit, so investors are willing to accept lower-margin returns.

    Are they? You seem pretty convinced, but I’m not so sure. Upzoning initiatives have been happening in various states and metro areas in the country in recent years, is there evidence that lower margin developments have increased in those areas?

    That being said, I don’t necessarily oppose any of the measures you’re proposing, but, while they might work in theory, I’m not convinced they will achieve the results you believe they will achieve, in practice. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with trying this strategy, though. By all means, let’s try it, even if only as a trial somewhere.

    • blarghly@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/22/austin-texas-rents-falling/

      As in many other major cities, existing homeowners and neighborhood groups that opposed allowing more homes to be built for decades held significant sway at Austin City Hall. But those forces lost favor amid the city’s skyrocketing housing costs during the pandemic. Austin voters elected City Council members — including Vela — more friendly to housing development.

      Now, Austin is one of the only major U.S. cities where rents are falling.

      • TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world
        11·
        2 days ago

        Well, that sounds great, then. I still think you’re being naive, and that you’re putting too much faith in the invisible hand of the free market, but, as I’ve said several times now, I’m not opposed to upzoning. Not at all. By all means, go for it.