Affordability Down in First Quarter, NAHB/Wells Fargo Index Shows

摘要

Housing affordability declined somewhat in the first quarter of 2005, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing opportunity index (HOI). The HOI shows that 50.1 percent of the new and existing homes sold in the first quarter were affordable to families earning the median income for the area, down from 52.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004. The calculations are based on the monthly cost of a home, including property taxes and insurance, with a 30-year, 90 percent fixed-rate mortgage at a rate that is the weighted average of fixed and adjustable rates for the quarter. A home is considered affordable if the median-income family can cover the costs with 28 percent of its gross income.