There are a lot of ways to measure how affordable it is to buy a home. Time isn’t usually among them. But one new analysis decided to use it anyway. The analysis, conducted by the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website, looked at how many days of work, at an average wage, it takes to pay the typical monthly mortgage payment in each state. It found quite a spread. On the one end, mortgage payments in states like Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, and Montana all took more than two weeks of work to afford. On the other, midwestern states like Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan all came in around a week. Nationally, the “magic number” was 10. Charlie Lankston, the website’s executive editor, says there are a couple of factors behind the numbers. “The number of workdays required to afford a home today stems from a couple of factors,” Lankston said. “First, home prices have risen faster than incomes, widening the gap between earnings and housing costs. Second, elevated mortgage rates have increased borrowing costs, further stretching monthly budgets.” (source)
