Attom has released its first-quarter 2022 U.S. Home Affordability Report, showing that median-priced, single-family homes were less affordable in Q1 of 2022 compared to historical averages in 79 percent of counties across the country.
Median home prices in 461 of the 586 counties analyzed last quarter were less affordable than in the past, up from Q4 of 2021 when 449 of 586 were deemed less affordable. That increase continued as the median national home price spiked 16 percent, year-over-year, to a record high of $320,000, while average wages across the country rose just 7 percent.
According to Attom, homeownership costs on median-priced homes remained within the financial means of average U.S. workers in the first quarter of 2022, consuming 26.3 percent of the $66,560 average national wage. That is within the 28 percent ceiling considered affordable by common lending standards.
That 26.3 percent of wages needed, however, stands at the highest point since the third quarter of 2008, up from 24.9 percent in Q4 of 2021 and 21.8 percent in the first quarter of last year—the largest annual increase since at least 2005.
“It’s certainly no surprise that affordability is more challenging today for prospective homebuyers than it was a year ago,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence for Attom. “Historically low mortgage rates and higher wages helped offset rising home prices over the past few years, but as home prices continue to soar and interest rates approach five percent on a 30-year fixed rate loan, more consumers are going to struggle to find a property they can comfortably afford.”