HousingWireHousingWire
Housing markets across the country are grappling with a number of issues that have resulted in historically low home sales, and chief among them is the lack of affordability. That’s largely driven by a national housing shortage that’s leading to fewer listings and thus driving up home prices.
According to a new paper from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the drop in affordability is present in all income brackets but it’s most stark among the middle class where the percentage of affordable listings has plummeted since 2019.
Households making $75,000 were able to afford 48.8% of home listings in 2019, but that number has since cratered to 21.2%. For households making $100,000, the drop between 2019 to 2025 is from 64.7% to 37.1%. Both are 27.6 percentage point drops.
NAR’s report hammers home that the problem is a lack of inventory. For the $75,000 income bracket, there’s a shortage of 415,944 listings. For those making $50,000, it’s a shortage of 366,924 and the shortage is 363,684 for the $100,000 income bracket.
Housing inventory reached its all-time low in 2022 and inventory risen since then back to more historical levels. According to data from Altos, the number of homes for sale is up 32.4% year over year.
The rise in inventory varies by metropolitan area, but it’s particularly pronounced in Florida, where the jump in listings has not been met with a similar rise in sales.
Of the 10 metro markets that had the largest percentage point increases in affordable listings for those making $100,000 between 2024 and 2025, five are in Florida, with Lakeland-Winter Haven leading the state with an 8.5 point jump.
Two of the three with the highest percentage point rises in affordable listings are in North Carolina — Durham-Chapel Hill (14.2 points) and Raleigh-Cary (6.8 points).
According to Altos data, inventory in both North Carolina and Florida are up by just under 40% year over year.
On the other end, some of the metros with the largest decreases in the share of affordable listings are in markets generally thought of as affordable.Â
Toledo, Ohio has become an unexpected hotspot, with Altos data showing prices up 24% since 2022, with the largest rises coming among lower-priced homes. In 2024, NAR says 75.5% of home listings were affordable to households making $100,000, but that number has dropped to 70.3%.
New Haven, Connecticut had the largest percentage point drop in affordable listings at 9.9, followed by Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (8.7 points) and Boise City, Idaho (8.2 points).
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