NAHB Rates Youngstown, Ohio As Most Affordable Major U.S. Housing Market

WASHINGTON D.C. - The metropolitan statistical area comprising Youngstown, Warren and Boardman, Ohio (which includes some neighborhoods across the Pennsylvania border) is the nation's most affordable housing market among major metros with populations over 500,000, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) for the first quarter of 2005.

The metropolitan areas of Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich.; Dayton, Ohio; and Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y. are also near the top of the affordability scale among major metros with populations over 500,000.

?EUR??,,????'??On a nationwide basis, housing affordability posted a moderate decline in the first quarter of this year versus the final quarter of 2004, due mostly to higher home prices and a slight uptick in home mortgage rates,?EUR??,,????'?? said NAHB President Dave Wilson. ?EUR??,,????'??Our index shows that just over half of all new and existing homes sold in the first three months of this year were affordable to families earning the U.S. median family income of $58,000.

The decline in nationwide affordability was mostly attributable to the fact that the median price of all homes sold in the first quarter of 2005 rose $6,000 from the end of 2004, bringing it back to where it was in the third quarter of last year, at $225,000.

?EUR??,,????'??Clearly, favorable financing conditions helped keep housing affordability from declining more than it did in the beginning of this year, yet strong demand for homes drove up prices to beyond the reach of quite a few median-income earners,?EUR??,,????'?? Wilson said.

In the neighborhoods comprising the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman metro area, fully 90.2 percent of homes sold in the first quarter were affordable to families earning that locale's median household income of $51,300. The median price of all homes sold in the area during that time was $86,000.

At the other end of the scale, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. was rated the least affordable major metropolitan area with a population greater than 500,000. In this region, just 5.2 percent of homes sold in the beginning of this year were affordable to families earning the median income of $54,500. The median price of homes that sold in and around Los Angeles in the period was $430,000.

Looking at smaller metros with populations under 500,000, Lima, Ohio rated tops for housing affordability and was the most affordable statistical area ranked overall. There, 92.3 percent of homes sold in the first quarter of this year were affordable to families earning the median income of $51,800, and the median price of homes sold was $75,000.

The least affordable small metro area ranked by the HOI was Salinas, Calif., where only 4.3 percent of homes sold in the first quarter were affordable to median income earners making $60,300 annually. The median sales price of homes in Salinas during the period was $545,000.