ATTOM: Affordability Remains Challenge Nationwide

(Image courtesy of Hande Yavuz/pexels.com)

ATTOM, Irvine, Calif., released its latest U.S. Home Affordability Report, showing that homes were less affordable than historical averages virtually nationwide in Q4 2025.

In 99% of the counties with enough data to analyze, median-priced single-family homes and condos were less affordable than historical averages in the quarter. That’s close to flat from the past two quarters.

However, they were slightly more affordable in Q4 than in Q3 in 86% of the counties analyzed.

“Many Americans were priced out of buying a home in 2025, and affordability remains worse than historic norms in most markets,” said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM. “Still, modest, quarter-over-quarter affordability improvements in many markets at the end of the year offered some encouragement. Over the past five years, home price growth has nearly doubled wage growth, meaning home buying power in 2026 will depend not only on whether prices level off or decline, but also on mortgage rates and broader economic conditions.”

ATTOM analyzes affordability by calculating the amount of income needed to meet major monthly home ownership expenses, including mortgage payments, mortgage insurance, property taxes and homeowner’s insurance on a median home, with certain standard assumptions.

In 74.1% of analyzed counties, major home expenses consumed more than 28% of the typical resident’s wages. The typical cost of mortgage payments, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance and property taxes was $2,015 in Q4, down 2% from Q3 and 1% from Q4 2024. However, that would have consumed 31.4% of the typical American’s wages, and in 29.5% of the counties analyzed, home purchase expenses in Q4 were more than 43% of the typical resident’s wages.

And, the cost of a median-priced home grew at a greater rate than the typical wages in 43.3% of counties analyzed.