The National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo released the first-quarter Housing Affordable Index this month. According to the index, Pueblo was the most affordable city in the state for home buyers, while Boulder was the least affordable. In fact, Pueblo was one of the most affordable cities in the nation with a ranking of 27th out of 225 cities. Boulder, on the other hand was one of the least affordable cities in the nation with a ranking of 199th out of 225.
The index calculates affordability based on the share of homes in the area affordable for households at the median income level.
Colorado Springs was ranked 65th while Ft. Collins-Loveland, Greeley, and Denver were ranked 118th, 127th and 150th, respectively. Grand Junction was not included on the list.
The index listed its calculations for the median sales price in each metro:
Boulder, $199,000
Colorado Springs, $180,000
Denver-Aurora, $150,000
Greeley, $175,000
Ft. Collins-Loveland, $214,000
Pueblo $110,000
Nationwide, the most affordable area was Cumberland, Marylandon the West Virginia border, and the least affordable area was San Francisco.
The index calculates affordability of purchase homes and does not include information on rental housing.
According to the NAHB press release:
Nationwide Housing Affordability Reaches New Record High
Tight Credit Remains Primary Obstacle for Buyers
WASHINGTON, May 17 - Nationwide housing affordability hit a new record
high for a second consecutive quarter in the first three months of this
year, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo
Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), released today. Yet tight lending
conditions continue to pose a major obstacle to many prospective home
buyers.
The latest HOI data reveal that 77.5 percent of all new and existing
homes that were sold in this year's first quarter were affordable to
families earning the national median income of $65,000. This beats the
previous record set in the final quarter of 2011, when 75.9 percent of
homes sold were affordable to median-income earners.
"Homes in this year's first quarter were more affordable than they have
been at any time in more than 20 years, yet many potential sales are not
happening because of overly tight lending conditions that are keeping
hardworking families from obtaining a suitable mortgage," said Barry
Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)
and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. "Without this significant
hurdle, the housing and economic recovery could be proceeding at a much
stronger pace."
The most affordable major housing market in this year's first quarter
was Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind., where 95.8 percent of homes sold during
the period were affordable to households earning the area's median
family income of $66,900.
Also ranking among the most affordable major housing markets in
respective order were Dayton, Ohio; Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.;
Modesto, Calif.; Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich.; and Buffalo-Niagara Falls,
N.Y.; the latter two of which tied for fifth place.
Among smaller housing markets, Cumberland, Md.-W.Va. topped the
affordability chart for the first time in this year's first quarter.
There, 99 percent of homes sold during the first quarter were affordable
to families earning the area's median income of $53,000. Other smaller
housing markets at the top of the index include Fairbanks, Alaska;
Wheeling, W.Va.; Kokomo, Ind.; and Davenport-Moline-Rock Island,
Iowa-Ill., respectively.
In New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J., which retained the title of
the least affordable major housing market for a 16th consecutive
quarter, just 31.5 percent of homes sold in the first three months of
this year were affordable to those earning the area's median income of
$68,200.
Other major metros at the bottom of the affordability chart included San
Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif.; Honolulu; Los Angeles-Long
Beach-Glendale, Calif.; and Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif.,
respectively.
Ocean City, N.J., was the least affordable smaller housing market on the
list, with 45.9 percent of homes sold in the first quarter affordable
to families earning the median income of $71,100. Other small metros at
the bottom of the list included Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif.; San Luis
Obispo-Paso Robles, Calif.; Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, Calif.;
and Laredo, Texas.
