The housing affordability on a national scale in the U.S. hit a new record high in the first three months of 2012, this according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI).
The recent Housing Opportunity Index shows that 77.5% of all existing and new homes that were sold in the first three months of 2012 were affordable to families earning the national median income of $65,000.
This latest data surpassed the previous record set in the last quarter of 2011 when 75.9% of homes sold were within the means to median-income earners.
Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), in a statement said, “Homes in this year’s first quarter were more affordable than they have been at any time in more than 20 years ….”
Despite this record high home affordability, lending condition proves to be the one of the major hindrances to many potential home buyers.
The chairman of NAHB added that “many potential sales are not happening because of overly tight lending conditions that are keeping hardworking families from obtaining a suitable mortgage.”
Nationwide, the most affordable major housing markets in the first three months of 2012 were Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind., Dayton, Ohio; Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.; Modesto, Calif.; Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich.; and Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Among the smaller housing markets nationwide, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index reveals that Cumberland, Md.-W.Va. topped the affordability chart for the first time in the first three months of 2012. In this housing market, 99% of homes sold in the first quarter of 2012 were within the means to families earning the area’s median income of $53,000.
Whether you are a first-time home buyer, first-time home seller, empty nester, thinking about selling a home or buying a home, do contact the Guldi Real Estate Group. In Southern Maryland, the Guldi Group is the number one real estate team.