Earlier this week I wrote about the Home Opportunity Index and how homes are more affordable today than ever before.

The last time you could pick up a home around $176K at a mortgage interest rate in the 5’s…was in 2003. And the rate was barely in the 5’s, really more like “almost 6%”.

Eight years later the median price is back to $176K and mortgage interest rates are in the low 5’s and sometimes we even catch a glimpse of a 4-handle rate.

Sounds great, right? Homes are affordable if you use that data as the only measuring stick.

But what if you look at wages? What percent of your income will it take? Are homes really affordable?

Let’s measure it:

Just a mere 48 years ago in 1963, the median prices of a home was $18,700. .

Median income was $6,200 annually per household.

Interest rates were hovering around 6%.

The average monthly home loan payment on a home mortgage took 17% of the average monthly income.

From 1963, rates took off as did inflation. It wasn’t until 2002-2003 that the trend revisited 1963 levels and is back again now.

Today’s median income in the Dallas metroplex is 68,300 and the median priced home is 189,900. Mortgage interest rates continue to bounce along the 5% mark. This translates to an average monthly home loan payment of 14% of the average monthly income.

That’s the math! It’s all in the data. Homes ARE more affordable today!

Elizabeth Rose