local real estate news, statistics, and commentary without the sales spin.
With home prices approaching or even exceeding their 2007 peak levels in parts of the Seattle area, there has been renewed talk about whether we’re in another housing bubble or not. This week I’d like to go back to the same data I used in 2005 and 2006 to definitively recognize the bubble at a…
As promised in this morning’s affordability post, here’s an updated look at the “affordable home” price chart. In this graph I flip the variables in the affordability index calculation around to other sides of the equation to calculate what price home the a family earning the median household income could afford to buy at today’s…
Let’s take a look at how affordability is doing in the Seattle area after the last couple months of changes in home prices and interest rates. So how does affordability look as of May? Thanks to the spring surge in home prices, we’ve dropped back below the “affordable” level of 100. The index sits at…
As promised in yesterday’s affordability post, here’s an updated look at the “affordable home” price chart. In this graph I flip the variables in the affordability index calculation around to other sides of the equation to calculate what price home the a family earning the median household income could afford to buy at today’s mortgage…
Let’s take a look at how affordability is doing in the Seattle area after the last couple months of changes in home prices and interest rates. So how does affordability look as of March? Basically on par with the long-term pre-bubble average. The index sits at 103.5, basically the same as January. An index level…