Lansing-East Lansing, Mich., was the nation’s most affordable major housing market, defined as a metro with a population of at least 500,000. There, 85.2% of all new and existing homes sold in the second quarter were affordable to families earning the area’s median income of $89,500.
Top five affordable major housing markets are:
- Lansing-East Lansing, Mich.
- Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.
- Toledo, Ohio
- Harrisburg- Carlisle, Pa.
- Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Elmira, N.Y., was rated the nation’s most affordable small market, with 91.8% of homes sold in the second quarter being affordable to families earning the median income of $77,900.
Top five affordable small housing markets:
- Elmira, N.Y.
- Cumberland, Md.-W.Va.
- Wheeling, W.Va.-Ohio
- Utica-Rome, N.Y.
- Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa-Ill.
For the seventh straight quarter, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., remained the nation’s least affordable major housing market. Only 3.6% of the homes sold during the second quarter in the market were affordable to families earning the area’s median income of $90,100.
Top five least affordable major housing markets—all located in California:
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale
- Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad
- San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
The top five least affordable small housing markets were also in the Golden State.
At the very bottom of the affordability chart was Salinas, Calif., where 5.3% of all new and existing homes sold in the second quarter were affordable to families earning the area’s median income of $90,100.
Top five least affordable small housing markets—all located in California:
- Salinas
- Napa
- San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles
- Santa Cruz-Watsonville
- Santa Maria-Santa Barbara