The affordability measure was only a slight dip fromrnthe second quarter when the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOE) wasrnat 62.6 percent.  Median home pricesrnincreased from $214,000 in the second quarter to $221,000 in the third butrnmortgage interest rates eased from 4.44 percent to 4.35 percent over the samerntime frame.</p

“Even with nationwide home prices reaching their highest level since the endrnof 2007, affordability still remains fairly high by historical standards,” saidrnNAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “Rising employment and incomes, interestrnrates that remain near historically low levels, and pent-up demand shouldrncontribute to positive momentum heading into next year.” <br /<br /Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pennsylvania was the most affordable majorrnhousing market.  Just under 90 percent ofrnall new and existing homes sold in this year’s third quarter were affordable tornfamilies earning the area’s median income of $52,700. Other major U.S. housingrnmarkets at the top of the affordability chart in the third quarter included, inrndescending order, Syracuse, Indianapolis, Harrisburg-Carlisle, and Dayton. </p

The most affordable smaller markets were Cumberland, Maryland and Kokomo,rnIndiana, tied at 94.8 percent affordability. rnThe median income was $54,100 in Cumberland and $56,900 in Kokomo.  Other affordable smaller markets werernDavenport, Iowa-Moline-Rock Island, Illinois; Mansfield, Ohio; and Springfield,rnOhio.  </p

The least affordable major housing market for the eighth straight quarterrnwas San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City where only 11.4 percent of homes soldrnin the third quarter were affordable to families earning the area’s medianrnincome of $100,400.  Also near the bottomrnwere three other California metro areas, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale. SantarnAna-Anaheim-Irvine, and  SanrnJose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara.  The New-Yorkrnarea was the fifth least affordable major market. </p<pAll five leastrnaffordable small housing markets were in California. At the very bottom wasrnNapa, where 10.2 percent of all new and existing homes sold were affordable tornfamilies earning thernarea’s median income of $70,300.  Other small markets included SantarnCruz-Watsonville, Salinas, Santa Rosa-Petaluma, and San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles.

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