Home Affordability Worsens in Q4, ATTOM Finds

(Image courtesy of ATTOM; Breakout image courtesy of cami/pexels.com)

ATTOM, Irvine, Calif., released its fourth-quarter 2024 U.S. Home Affordability Report, finding that median-priced single-family homes and condos are less affordable in Q4 compared with historical averages in 98% of counties analyzed.

The major expenses on a median-priced home would consume 34% of the average national wage—an increase from 32.5% in Q3 and 32.7% in Q4 2023, and well-above the commonly accepted 28% lending guideline.

The national median home price is at $364,750, 2.1% over Q3 and 11.4% above the typical price in Q4 2023.

The typical $2,092 monthly cost of mortgage payments, homeowner insurance, mortgage insurance and property taxes is up 4.6% quarterly and 6.1% annually to a new all-time high. In contrast, there has been a 1% quarterly and 3.1% annual gain in the average national age.

Median homeownership costs in 556 of 566 counties with enough data to analyze are less affordable than in the past. And, year-over-year changes in home prices have outpaced changes in weekly annualized wages during Q4 2024 in 75.8% of counties.

“The U.S. housing market continues to generate great profits for most home sellers but also more and more financial stress for would-be buyers. Average workers now must shell out a larger portion of their wages for major home-ownership expenses than at any time since right before the housing market tanked in the late 2000s,” said Rob Barber, CEO for ATTOM. “Despite recent declines in mortgage rates, down payments on typical home purchases have reached four times the average national wage.”