- Nationwide Affordability Gap Hits Home
Rising home prices and mortgage rates are increasingly locking middle-income families—such as teachers, nurses, and skilled tradespeople—out of the housing market. As Nadia Evangelou, senior economist at NAR, states: “Middle-income buyers are the backbone of the housing market, so we need homes they can actually afford.”
A key contributor to the affordability crisis is the post-2006 slowdown in new housing construction, leading to supply shortfalls and upward price pressure.
- Cities With Worsening Affordability for the Middle Class
NAR analysis has identified that 26 of the top 100 metro areas are facing growing affordability challenges, particularly those impacted by restrictive zoning or permitting environments. This list includes both high-cost regions and more modestly priced areas where housing availability hasn’t kept pace with demand.
These include:
Los Angeles, where housing costs significantly outstrip incomes.
Harrisburg–Carlisle and Scranton ¶—despite typically lower price levels, they suffer from scarcity due to past underbuilding. Pennsylvania ranked 44th among states in new home construction between 2017 and 2023.
- Markets Showing Improvement
Conversely, some cities are easing affordability pressures:
Raleigh–Cary (NC) and Columbia (SC) have seen a 5% increase in affordable listings year-over-year, driven by growing construction and inventory.
The rest of the analyzed metros—44 cities—remain in a neutral state, with no significant shift in affordable housing access.
- Broader Affordability Landscape
A separate analysis by Oxford Economics signals that in 2024, one would need to earn nearly $108,000 annually to afford a typical single-family home—double what was needed in 2019. Now, only 36% of U.S. households meet this threshold—down from 59% in 2019.
Major markets like San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Honolulu are especially out of reach—under 15% of households in these areas can afford homeownership.