America’s Housing Market Winners and Losers, Mapped
Summary
Many Americans find it harder to buy homes now because house prices and borrowing costs have gone up faster than wages. However, some counties in the South and Midwest still offer affordable homeownership, while coastal areas in the Northeast and West are much less affordable.Key Facts
- Home prices and borrowing costs increased significantly since the pandemic, outpacing wage growth.
- The Newsweek American Dream Index evaluates 33,772 U.S. ZIP codes on housing affordability and opportunity, using scores from 0 to 100.
- Scores over 65 indicate thriving housing access, while scores below 35 show areas struggling with affordability.
- The most affordable counties are mostly in the South and Midwest, where land and construction costs are lower, and building rules are less strict.
- Popular Southern markets in Florida, Tennessee, and Texas have become less affordable due to high demand and limited new housing supply.
- The least affordable counties are mainly coastal areas in the Northeast and West, including New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles counties.
- The range of housing access scores shows large differences across the country in the ability of average households to afford homeownership.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.
