Finding America's Most Affordable Homes

What is affordable for one person, might not be for another.  So what qualifies a home as affordable? Much of affordability is based on location, but that's not to say it's based solely on location.  Affordability is a complex topic that requires data upon data, and several specialists to really break it all down.

Oddly enough, we happen to have reams of data at our disposal—specifically, 1.6 million listings for new and existing homes for sale across the country in February—not to mention a team led by our chief economist, Jonathan Smoke. To understand what’s affordable, we imagined an American Everyfamily earning the national median income of $51,801; that’s the middle of the road, with 50% of households earning more and 50% earning less. Then we counted how many of those 1.6 million homes the Everyfamily could purchase, with a 20% down payment and a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage (at an average rate for the market and no points). To qualify as affordable, a home couldn’t leave the Everyfamily with a monthly payment that exceeded 28% of their income.

What did we learn? Click here to read the full article on America's most affordable homes.