Relying on data from Moody’s Investors Services that indicates the days of “unusually affordable housing” are over, LendingTree went about analyzing which markets across the country would still be relatively affordable for most people earning a median income.
The good news, according to LendingTree, is “…most markets aren’t prohibitively expensive for the majority of the middle class…we found that, on average, a middle middle-class family makes about $450/month more than what would be necessary to pay for a home priced at the median home value in their area.”
Houston, Dallas and Minneapolis are currently the locations where middle-class households would have the easiest time paying for a median priced home. In fact, these households could afford to pay about $800 more than what they would need to pay. Upper middle class households could pay about $1,900 above what they would need to pay.
And in Washington DC, Minneapolis and Hartford, upper middle class households could afford to spend approximately $2,600 more than what they would need to pay.
LendingTree also found that lower middle class households could still afford median-priced homes in 34 of the nation’s largest housing markets. The top markets for lower middle class households, currently, are Houston, Pittsburg, and Buffalo.
LendingTree assumed that households would make a 20% down payment and receive a mortgage loan with a 4.6% interest rate for this study.
