This balances both prices AND income so it's a true measure of affordability.
A related article shows that the Midwest and South should hold strong while the Northeast and West will be most likely to suffer declines in real estate over the next couple years.
Oddly, Indiana is also high on the foreclosure list. Indianapolis tends to be a very tough market for home builders.
Im FROM one of these areas. sure its affordable IF You can find a JOB there.
Theres a reason the housing is so cheap
Even considering property taxes, I'd wager that Houston is in the top fifteen most affordable major metro areas.
Assuming you could get a job in Ohio to pay for a house there.
Indianapolis led all U.S. cities in housing affordability during the third quarter, according to a survey released Monday by Wells Fargo and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). It was the fifth straight quarter that Indianapolis was the most affordable major housing market in the United States.
Nationally, according to NAHB President David Pressly, 40.4 percent of all new and existing homes sold during the third quarter were affordable to families earning the median U.S. income of $59,600. That means more than half the nation had too little income to buy a median priced home.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index measures the percentage of homes sold in a given area that are affordable to families earning that area's median income. To be deemed affordable, housing expenses must be no more than 28 percent of income. Expenses include property taxes and insurance as well as the mortgage payment.
Overall affordability changed little from the second quarter as higher mortgage rates offset slightly lower home prices and rising household income. Latest home prices In Indianapolis, 86 percent of the homes sold came in at or below what someone earning the city's median household income ($65,100) could afford to buy.
In contrast, only 1.8 percent of all homes sold in Los Angeles were affordable to those earning $56,200, the median household income there.
Among large cities, northern industrial metro areas dominated the most affordable list with Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pennsylvania, Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Michigan, Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York and Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Michigan all near the top.
Small cities that were big in affordability included Springfield, Ohio, Mansfield, Ohio, Lansing-East Lansing, Michigan, Lima, Ohio, Battle Creek, Michigan and Canton-Massillon, Ohio. CA monopolized the bottom of the list with Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Modesto, Stockton, and San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos the least affordable big cities.
Lowering taxes, decreasing regulations, and ending union shop rules would do wonders for the Rust Belt economy. However, the last election cycle saw Democrats making gains in the governorships of Ohio and New York, as well as winning one house of the Pennsylvania legislatures. The stagnation of the region will continue. As one poster put it recently, going through upstate New York is like taking a time warp back to 1970, with strings of "Pottersvilles" (after the "dark side" alternate Bedford Falls in the movie, It's A Wonderful Life.)
Youngstown? Who the heck would want to live there? lol
You can buy a very nice house in Lima for $60-$70,000. Even the McMansions come in under $500,000.
Look at the data and you will see the median income is much better than the rest of the so-called 'rust-belt.'
The reasons for being on top of the list of affordability:
1. Decent incomes.
2. Indianpolis metro area sprawls in all directions - lots of home building in the last 10 years with zero-down loans and higher property taxes left a lot of people going into forclosure (usually because of a divorce - NOT loss of job).
3. Lot of old neighborhoods - with some crummy housing. Some of these neighborhoods are rebounding, others are basket-cases that drive down the metro average.
Still hate Peyton Manning though.
Actually, you must take a look at where the boomers want to live once they retire, if you want to predict which states will do well in the next 15 years.
I think both Southern and Western States will do fine.
And those states in New England and the Midwest will continue to witness a stalled or reduced population.
#9 and #10 on the "most affordable major metro areas" are Akron, OH and Rochester, NY. My wife is from Akron and I'm a Rochester native. We moved back to Rachahca in the early 80's because the job market was better. Housing is cheap compared to other areas, but property taxes and other state taxes are high. Also, we've taken some big hits in the job market with Kodak's demise. My wife and I plan on staying here. I hope our kids stay. Our daughter has a good job here and our sons are still in college and high school. I hope that they can find good jobs in the area when they're done with school. I do like Upstate New York and I have a ton of ties in Rochester.
I have relatives who live on the West Side of Youngstown, in a 3-BR, 2-Bath ranch with a large back yard and screened in porch. The house is about 40 years old and in pristine shape. Only flaw is no A/C and its location: inside Youngstown, but in the nicest part of the city. Market value (drum roll): $ 80,000. Similar house in a similar neigborhood in Washington DC would cost $ 350,000.
the tradeoff is that you have to live in Ohio.