ATTOM: Home Affordability Gets Tougher in Q2

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

ATTOM, Irvine, Calif., released its second-quarter 2024 U.S. Home Affordability Report, showing that median-priced single-family homes and condos were less affordable in the quarter compared with historical averages in 99% of U.S. counties with enough data to analyze.

Moreover, major expenses on median-priced homes consumed 35.1% of the average national wage. That’s the highest mark since 2007 and up roughly three percentage points from both the first quarter of 2024 and year-over-year.

ATTOM pegged it at a typical $2,114 for mortgage payments, insurances and property taxes.

“The latest affordability data presents a clear challenge for home buyers. While home prices are increasing and mortgage rates remain relatively high, these factors are making homes less affordable,” ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said. “It’s common for these trends to intensify during the spring buying season when buyer demand increases. However, the trends this year are particularly challenging for house hunters, more so than at any point since the housing market boom began in 2012. As the 2024 buying season progresses into the summer, we will continue to monitor the data closely.”

Median home ownership costs in 582 of the 589 counties analyzed were less affordable than in the past.

That’s up from 579 in Q1, and 577 year-over-year–and more than 15 times the amount in early 2021.

In terms of wage growth versus home price growth, it’s a mixed bag, ATTOM found. Year-over-year price changes outpaced growth in weekly annualized wages in roughly half of the counties analyzed, but the reverse was also true.