Analysts say that existing-home sales could increase by 1.7 percent in 2017 but the National Association of Realtors believes that homebuyers at lower income levels may not see many listings within their price range. The NAR, in conjunction with realtor.com, have created the Realtors Affordability Distribution Curve and Score which measures affordability at different income levels for active housing inventory currently on the market.
Strong job gains coupled with millennials increasingly looking to purchase should produce a significant buyer demand in 2017. However, as affordability decreases there will be heavy competition for listings at the lower end of the market which can then push prices even higher.
Many Midwestern states have the best affordability scores while, not surprisingly, California trails only Hawaii as being the least affordable.
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