Everyone knows that housing affordability has been negatively impacted by rising prices and increasing mortgage rates, but there is another piece to the affordability equation – wages. How much a family earns obviously impacts how easy or difficult it is for them to afford to own a home. Because of an improving economy, wages are finally beginning to increase – and that dramatically affects home affordability. According to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) September 2018 Housing Affordability Index,wages have increased in every region of the country: After applying current salaries, home prices, and mortgage rates to their Home Affordability Index equation, the index, though still lower than this time last year (160.1 to 146.7), increased over the last month (141.2 to 146.7). For the complete methodology used by NAR, click here. The percentage of income needed to own a home has also decreased each of the last three months. It currently sits at 17% which is substantially lower than historic numbers.

Bottom Line

If you are a first-time buyer or a move-up buyer who believes that purchasing a home is not within your budget, let’s get together to determine if that is still true.

  If you are interested in Real Estate Listings in Punta Gorda, Florida, you can do so by clicking here   Originally from the bustling city of Mumbai, India, Genevieve Ramachandran relocated to the Burnt Store Isles area of Punta Gorda in 1996, where she specializes in residential properties.   Based out of the company’s Punta Gorda office, she welcomes the opportunity to assist both homebuyers and sellers with their needs throughout the region.  You can contact her at 941-268-1511 for more information and to see properties.  You can read customer reviews of Genevieve's Real Estate Services by clicking here.