Out of 95 US metro areas, the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue housing market ranks as the 79th most affordable. In other words, even with Pierce County dragging the average down, as of 2005 we were still the 17th least affordable metro.
Bizjournals compared housing costs and income levels in the 95 U.S. metros with populations above 500,000. The study used statistics from the 2005 American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. From our study, bizjournals identifies the 10 most affordable markets to own a home and the 10 costliest markets to own a home.
Keep in mind that many of the areas that were less affordable than us have seen slight price declines in 2006, meaning we’ve probably inched up the list a few spots since the data was gathered. Hooray for us!
(G. Scott Thomas, Bizjournals, 03.05.2007)