Housing Affordability Hovers Near Highest Level in 18 Years

Housing affordability hovers near highest level in 18 years. It's definitely a combination of low interest rates and low home prices that have made this possible and this is great news for home buyers.

The demand for affordable homes is in the air. Helping to stimulate that demand are young first-time buyers and the $8,000 federal tax credit. However, the federal tax credit will be ending soon; November 30, 2009 is the deadline. But there are hopes that Congress will extend the tax credit for another year and even make it available to all buyers. This would encourage activity in the trade-up market.

Some states saw more home sales than others because of the affordability. Forbes magazine recently listed Indianapolis as the most affordable place in the nation to live. Closely behind were Missouri, Texas, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Forbes magazine compiled their list of most affordable places to live in the nation based on measures of housing affordability, unemployment and cost of living in the 40 most populated areas of the country.

Housing markets that dominate the rankings have key contributing factors. Take Texas for instance: one of the key dominating factors for contributing to its affordability is major opportunity for metro area expansion. Everything in Texas is bigger, after all, and it just seems to be getting even bigger. Texas also has some of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country, even in today's economy. Some areas of Texas have seen growth of 3.8% (1.7 million) or more.

If you're a first-time homebuyer and haven't made the move yet to buy a home, don't let these affordable home prices pass you by. They will begin to rise again just as they did before, so there's no better time to buy than now.

Realtor® Tom Kile ~ Amarillo, Texas Real Estate

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