• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Ask A Question
  • Find Your Next Home
Real Estate Questions and Answers

Real Estate Questions and Answers

How to Determine If You Can Afford to Buy a Home

October 30, 2019 by Rick Landuyt

The gap between the increase in personal income and residential real estate prices has been used to defend the concept that we are experiencing an affordability crisis in housing today.

It is true that home prices and wages are two key elements in any affordability equation. There is, however, an extremely important third component to that equation: mortgage interest rates.

Mortgage interest rates have fallen by more than a full percentage point from this time last year. Today’s rate is 3.75%; it was 4.86% at this time last year. This has dramatically increased a purchaser’s ability to afford a home.

Here are three reports validating that purchasing a home is in fact more affordable today than it was a year ago:

CoreLogic’s Typical Mortgage Payment

“Falling mortgage rates and slower home-price growth mean that many buyers this year are committing to lower mortgage payments than they would have faced for the same home last year. After rising at a double-digit annual pace in 2018, the principal-and-interest payment on the nation’s median-priced home – what we call the “typical mortgage payment”– fell year-over-year again.”  

The National Association of Realtors’ Affordability Index

“At the national level, housing affordability is up from last month and up from a year ago…All four regions saw an increase in affordability from a year ago…Payment as a percentage of income was down from a year ago.”

First American’s Real House Price Index (RHPI)

“In 2019, the dynamic duo of lower mortgage rates and rising incomes overcame the negative impact of rising house price appreciation on affordability. Indeed, affordability reached its highest point since January 2018. Focusing on nominal house price changes alone as an indication of changing affordability, or even the relationship between nominal house price growth and income growth, overlooks what matters more to potential buyers – surging house-buying power driven by the dynamic duo of mortgage rates and income growth. And, we all know from experience, you buy what you can afford to pay per month.”

Bottom Line

Though the price of homes may still be rising, the cost of purchasing a home is actually falling. If you’re thinking of buying your first home or moving up to your dream home, let’s connect so you can better understand the difference between the two.

Filed Under: First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Interest Rates, Move-Up Buyers, Pricing

Primary Sidebar

Ask Your Real Estate Question

Recent Posts

  • How to Prepare Your House for a Winning Sale This Spring [INFOGRAPHIC]
  • Is It a Good Time to Sell My House?
  • How Smart Is It to Buy a Home Today?
  • Home Prices: What Happened in 2020? What Will Happen This Year?
  • What Are the Benefits of a 20% Down Payment?

Categories

  • Baby Boomers
  • Buying Myths
  • Demographics
  • Distressed Properties
  • Down Payments
  • First Time Home Buyers
  • For Agents
  • For Buyers
  • For Sellers
  • Foreclosures
  • FSBOs
  • Gen Z
  • Generation X
  • Holidays
  • Housing Market Updates
  • Infographics
  • Interest Rates
  • Luxury Market
  • Millennials
  • Move-Up Buyers
  • New Construction
  • Pricing
  • Questions and Answers
  • Rent vs. Buy
  • Selling Myths
  • Senior Market
  • Short Sales
  • Time-sensitive
  • Uncategorized
COLDWELL BANKER PROFESSIONALS - RICK LANDUYT - 67395 MAIN ST, RICHMOND, MI 48062 - (586) 727-2741