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Wage Increases Make Home Buying More Affordable

Wage Increases Make Home Buying More Affordable

Wage Increases Make Home Buying More Affordable | Simplifying The Market

Everyone knows that housing affordability has been negatively impacted by rising prices and increasing mortgage rates, but there is another piece to the affordability equation – wages.

How much a family earns obviously impacts how easy or difficult it is for them to afford to own a home. Because of an improving economy, wages are finally beginning to increase – and that dramatically affects home affordability.

According to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) September 2018 Housing Affordability Index, wages have increased in every region of the country:

Wage Increases Make Home Buying More Affordable | Simplifying The Market

After applying current salaries, home prices, and mortgage rates to their Home Affordability Index equation, the index, though still lower than this time last year (160.1 to 146.7), increased over the last month (141.2 to 146.7). For the complete methodology used by NAR, click here.

The percentage of income needed to own a home has also decreased each of the last three months. It currently sits at 17% which is substantially lower than historic numbers.

Wage Increases Make Home Buying More Affordable | Simplifying The Market

Bottom Line

If you are a first-time buyer or a move-up buyer who believes that purchasing a home is not within your budget, let’s get together to determine if that is still true.

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Nest Properties Austin strives to make a positive difference in people’s lives by providing the highest level of Real Estate Brokerage Service. We are a growing, successful, independent Real Estate Company striving to do our absolute best for our clients – every day. We have a focus on setting ourselves apart in this industry by providing the finest level of ethical and professional services and utilizing experienced agents with passion, integrity and an uncompromising commitment to our clients. At Nest, we are dedicated to constantly improving our business through effective communication, teamwork, education and technology.

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