Key Points: Improved affordability gives homebuyers a spring lift, with house-buying power in February up 10 percent relative to list prices from a year ago. Even with those gains, affordability remains below pre-pandemic levels, and the pace of recovery has diverged across markets. Markets with smaller remaining affordability gaps are better ...
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Key Points: Affordability improved nearly 11 percent year over year in January, reaching its highest level since August 2022. Income growth has outpaced house price growth for 19 straight months, boosting house-buying power even as mortgage rates remain elevated. Markets with declining home prices had the largest affordability gains, while areas ...
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Key Points: For-sale inventory is up 9 percent year over year, and house-buying power has increased roughly 12 percent, easing some pressure on affordability. While overall inventory has improved, new listings are still down 4 percent from a year ago—limiting how much sales can rebound. Despite recent mortgage rate volatility and disappointing ...
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Key Points: A record number of single women owned homes in 2025, despite a dip in the homeownership rate. Long-term gains in educational attainment and real household income continue to boost women’s participation in the housing market. Affordability has improved to its best level since 2022, potentially supporting further homeownership growth ...
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Key Points: House-buying power enters the 2026 spring home-buying season above the national median list price for the first time in more than three years. In December 2025, house-buying power reached $417,000 at the national level, a five percent surplus above the national median list price of $396,000. While still below pre-pandemic norms, the ...
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Key Points: Affordability jumped nearly 9 percent year over year in December, the 10th consecutive annual gain. Affordability improved on an annual basis in all 50 states and in 48 of the top 50 markets. Markets with inventory at, or above, pre-pandemic levels tend to have the strongest affordability gains. Affordability ended 2025 on its ...
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