US homes are least affordable since 2008

The median home price is now $253,000

US homes are least affordable since 2008
More Americans may have to put buying their dream home on hold as affordability hit its lowest level in nearly a decade, according to ATTOM Data Solutions.

ATTOM’s US Home Affordability Index dropped to 100 in the second quarter of 2017. That’s the lowest level observed since third quarter of 2008, when the index dipped to 86.

The median US home price now stands at $253,000.

"While home price appreciation in the second quarter accelerated to the fastest pace in more than three years, wage growth turned negative, posting the biggest year-over-year decrease in five years in Q4 2016 — the most recent average weekly wage data available," Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions, said in a statement. "That combination of accelerating home price growth and slowing wage growth, along with mortgage interest rates that are up nearly 50 basis points from a year ago, eroded home affordability nationwide to the lowest level in nearly nine years."

ATTOM also said that 210 of 464 US counties, or 45% of the total analyzed for the index, were less affordable compared with their historical affordability norms in the second quarter of this year. That’s the highest share reported since Q4 of 2009.