The HOI measures the percentage of homesrnsold during each quarter that could be purchased by families earning the U.S.rnmedian income which during the first quarter was $63,900.  The improved HOI was driven primarily by a $10,000rndip in the national median home price to $195,000.  At the same time average mortgage interestrnrates stabilized, increasing quarter-to-quarter from 4.54 percent to 4.57rnpercent.</p

Syracuse was the nation’s mostrnaffordable major housing market, as 93.7 percent of all new and existing homes sold in this year’s first quarter were affordablernto families earning the area’s median income of $67,700.  Other major markets rated high forrnaffordability were Buffalo-Niagara Falls, Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pennsylvania;rnHarrisburg-Carlisle, Pennsylvania; and Dayton, Ohio.</p

The most affordable small market was Cumberland,rnMaryland with 96.3 percent of homes sold in the first quarter being affordablernto those earning the median income of $54,100. rnThree Ohio markets, Springfield, Mansfield, and Lima, ranked second,rnfourth and fifth in affordability with Kokomo, Indiana in third place.</p

For the sixth consecutive quarter San Francisco-SanrnMateo-Redwood City was ranked as the least affordable major market.  Just 13.3 percent of homes sold there in thernfirst quarter were affordable to families earning the area’s median income ofrn$100,400.  It was followed by three otherrnCalifornia markets, Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine and Los Angeles-LongrnBeach-Glendale and fifth place San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara.  New York City-White Plains-Wayne, New York-NewrnJersey ranked fourth from the bottom.</p

All five of the least affordable smallrnmarkets were in California. At the very bottom of the affordability chart wasrnSanta Cruz-Watsonville, where 21.1 percent of all new and existing homes soldrnwere affordable to families earning the area’s median income of $77,900. Otherrnsmall markets at the lowest end of the affordability scale included Napa,rnSalinas, San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, and Santa Rosa-Petaluma.</p

 “Asrnhome prices and mortgage interest rates are unlikely to go down, the firstrnquarter HOI is another indicator that this is an opportune time to buy,” saidrnNAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.

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