As a recent report from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo shows, housing is more affordable now than it has been in three years. But several markets stick out on both ends of the affordability spectrum.
And according to Redfin, more Americans want to move where the housing is more affordable.
Here’s a look at the markets that are most affordable and least affordable.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo study showed that 89.3% of all new and existing homes sold in Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazleton, Pennsylvania in the third quarter were affordable to families earning the area’s median income of $67,000.
This makes this metro the nation’s most affordable major housing market.
Other affordable major housing markets include Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Indiana; Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pennsylvania; Syracuse, New York; and Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
The nation’s most affordable smaller market is Monroe, Michigan, with 95.3% of homes sold in Q3 being affordable to families earning the median income of $79,000.
Other affordable small markets include Cumberland, Md.-West Virginia; Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa-Illinois; Kokomo, Indiana; and Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, Kentucky.
The least affordable major market is, again, San Francisco. Only 8.4% of homes sold in Q3 2019 were affordable to families earning the area’s median income of $133,800.
Like San Francisco, the other major metros at the bottom of the affordability chart are in California; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale; Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara; and San Diego-Carlsbad.
The least affordable small housing markets were also located in California, including Santa Cruz-Watsonville; San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande; Napa; and Santa Rosa.
