The Bailout: Part 2

Dadguy
Thu, 06 Sep 2007 21:53:39 +0000

Here are some affordability index numbers:

http://www.realtor.org/Research.nsf/Pages/HousingInx

You need Adobe or Excel to open the files. Numbers are current through July 2007.

The regional differences are striking.

I wondered what adjustment you would need to make on the median current price to make it as affordable (in terms of monthly income-20%) as it was back in 2004. Back-of-the-envelope answer: a 16% drop. Actually, prices would need to be a little less than they were then even though median income has gone up over that time, due to the increase in interest rates.