Homes Reach Decade High Unaffordability Levels

Cheryl Plourde
A house with flowers out front

A new report about home affordability shows that U.S. home prices in the third quarter of 2018 were the least affordable they have been in 10 years. Out of 440 counties analyzed in the report, 344 (78 percent) of homes were less affordable than the long-term affordability average for those counties — the highest percentage of counties below historic affordability averages since Q3 2008. Rising mortgage rates are the culprit, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, which released the report.

Nationally, home prices rose faster than wages in 86 percent of local markets. In North Carolina, it was closer to 91 percent — out of the 22 North Carolina counties analyzed, only two (Randolph and Alamance) saw year-over-year wage growth outpace rising home prices. To explore more North Carolina housing data, visit the NC Housing Finance Agency’s State of Housing interactive map.

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