Indy Leads in Affordable Housing

For the 12th consecutive time, Indianapolis, Ind. can boast having the most affordable housing in the nation. On the flip side, the New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.J. area has the least affordable housing in the nation, taking that crown from California, which has held that honor every quarter since these tallies have been kept.

Nationwide, homes became more affordable for the third consecutive quarter, with the HOI rising to and almost matching the highest level since the second quarter of 2004.

In the nation’s most affordable major housing market of Indianapolis, 91.6 percent of homes sold in the second quarter were affordable to families earning the area’s median household income of $65,100. Also near the top of the list for affordable major metros this time around were Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa.; Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich.; Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich.; and Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich., in that order.

One smaller metro market (fewer than 500,000 people) outranked all others in terms of housing affordability during the second quarter of 2008. This was Canton-Massillon, Ohio, where 96.7 percent of all homes sold in the period were affordable to families earning that area’s median household income of $54,600.

New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J. was the nation’s least affordable major housing market. This was the first time a major housing market outside of California was designated the least affordable since the HOI’s inception in 1991. In the New York market, 11.4 percent of new and existing homes sold during the second quarter were affordable to those earning the area’s median family income of $63,000.

Other major metros at the bottom of the housing affordability chart included San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif.; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., Miami-Miami Beach- Kendall, Fla.; and Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y., in that order.

Among metro areas smaller than 500,000 people, the five markets at the bottom of the affordability chart were San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, Calif.; Ocean City, N.J.; Napa, Calif.; Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif.; and Salinas, Calif., respectively.

Source: NAHB