| It’s easy to drown in real estate statistics, but looking at “affordability” — the homes that someone on a median income could buy — is a fascinating gauge of housing markets. (Plus, it’s a statistic that can be fine-tuned to the local level). The recent release of the Housing Opportunity Index from the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo shows that we’re still in a uniquely affordable phase of the market cycle. If you’re looking for good news to come from the housing slump, this is it.
One driver is prices that have fallen shockingly — in many places, by half — from 2006 highs. The national median average price has dropped less but still substantially, from $248,000 in 2006 to $176,000 in this year’s third quarter...............................................Full Article: Source
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