For most folks, it's still too expensive to buy or rent a home

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

As a decadelong economic boom pushes into 2020, affording a home isn't expected to become much easier for the average American, according to recent reports.

Average wage earners can't afford to buy a home in 344 of 486 counties, or 71% of the U.S., according to a fourth-quarter analysis from real estate research firm Attom Data Solutions. That's just a slight improvement from from 73% in the third quarter and 75% a year earlier, the Attom report found.

One reason for the glacial pace of improvement? A booming real estate market amid lower mortgage rates.

-snip-

To cross the current national median home price of $257,000, homebuyers need a gross income of $67,647, the report said — yet the average annual wage in the U.S. was $58,214, the report notes.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/for-most-folks-its-still-too-expensive-to-buy-or-rent-a-home/ar-BBYoQHx?li=BBnbfcN

FWIW the only thing you're going to find where I live, the Puget Sound region, for $257,000 is a condo. With HOA fees thrown in that's not affordable for most.

[SWBTATTReg]

1. I also heard that not a lot of houses are being placed onto the market, causing a ...

supply shortage (causing prices to spike). I suspect that people are staying put in their homes longer. Can't replace their homes as easily as before.

[JenniferJuniper]

3. I'd love to downsize from our

lovely family sized home, but there is nowhere to go. Rent is way higher than what we are paying monthly and there is almost nothing out there in the "starter home" range. What is there needs tons of work or is scooped up before it even hits the market.

[Nay]

12. We're in the same boat. Nothing can compare to our very low mortgage, which

will be paid off soon. There are no newer smaller houses for retirees to retire to -- there are only hugely expensive 'retirement communities' which demand a large price for their small units, and then charge you a monthly price, too, for mowing the f**king lawn. Ridiculous.

Even if we decided to rent, rents are up in the stratosphere for even modest apartments, because houses are so damned expensive. We're just staying put.

[Demsrule86]

13. People can't sell quickly either with the new tax laws...so less flipping...Thank Trump the asshat.

[MicaelS]

18. Fuck all house flippers.

Flipping is why prices have risen so far.

[Bonx]

19. That's completely wrong.

The market determines this.

[Demsrule86]

23. Just the opposite...more on the market means lower prices.

[MissB]

16. Same here. Close to paying off the mortgage.

Prices in the Portland metro area have skyrocketed. I think our average price exceeded 400k a year ago or more. Dh and I are empty nesters - kids are off to college, one ready to head to grad school soon.

The house will be way too big for us, but we can mostly age in place on the first level. We'll eventually have to hire someone to do periodic yard work, as the half acre is a bit much. But selling just doesn't make sense. We'd get a bundle out, but then we'd have to buy closer in the City (and we're pretty close) and have zero privacy and zero profit.

So we'll stay put. At some point we may have to rent out rooms to a student or two from the local college to make things work.

[MichMan]

2. Where I live $257k would buy a beautiful spacious home

[Buckeyeblue]

4. Yes. A very nice home.

[maxsolomon]

5. But you need a median income of 68K to afford that home.

"To cross the current national median home price of $257,000, homebuyers need a gross income of $67,647, the report said — yet the average annual wage in the U.S. was $58,214, the report notes."

What is the AMI in your city/county? Where real estate is "affordable", incomes (and job prospects) are usually low.

[MichMan]

7. Median home price around here is considerably less, so still much more affordable

Median income is $46k and median property value is $106k

[Demsrule86]

11. I bought a fixer ...empty for 11 years near Cleveland...wanted to put my stamp on it...very cheap

and has doubled in just over a one and half years in value...now around here run down, older properties are being snapped up...we have had multiple offers without ever putting it on the market. Houses now sell when folks hear they are about to go on the market...rare house that goes on the market...I would say in a couple of years, we would not be able to afford this house if we were buying it again.

[Bayard]

8. I'm not buying that $257,000 figure

MSN is infamous for inflated figures among recruiters like myself. Look at other cost of living sites (which include housing costs), like bestplaces.net or bankrate.com. I move people around the country regularly (well, not me personally, but I place them with hiring companies), so have to look up such figures. The last one was a pharmaceutical scientist from VA to Salt Lake City (considerably more expensive).

It all depends on where you want to live....Arkansas is the cheapest, where median cost for a house is around $100K. Other states in the south and midwest are similar. We bought our nice little log home on 10 acres in southern KY for $100K. We have improved it greatly, but our house payment is $500 a month. Taxes are low.

[Silent3]

17. That "It all depends on where you want to live" comment you made...

...is what you need to take into account here. Prices are much higher where there's greater population density and more jobs. There are INSANE prices in some metro areas, like San Francisco, that pull the median US house price WAY up.

I don't find that $257,000 figure hard to believe at all.

It's great if you can get a good-paying job in a place with low housing prices, but a lot of people don't have that kind of luck. People will pay a huge premium just to live in an area with a one-hour-each-way commute through nasty traffic to get to their jobs.

[Binkie The Clown]

9. This year I bought a used car that cost more than my first house.

When I was first married in the early 1960s you could buy a nice 3-bedroom, 2 bath house with a two-car garage on a quit suburban cul-de-sac for $12,000 or so. I had a good job, and our first house cost a higher than average $14,500. I can't even imagine how young families can afford to live these days. I really feel sorry for them.

[Amishman]

10. Home prices have greatly outpaced wage growth

Even with two incomes is is a reach, especially with student debt added in to the financial picture

[JenniferJuniper]

14. Add kids into the mix

and it becomes that much more difficult.

"Fantastic economy", my non-orange ass.

[smirkymonkey]

15. Yeah, I am still NOT buying this "Fantastic Economy" shit.

The stock market is only soaring because the tax cut allowed corporations to buy back stocks which drove up their price per share and those with money got a major bonus, but I am not seeing where Trump's economy is benefiting the poor and middle class, in fact, it's getting worse.

Everything is getting more expensive, particularly housing, and wages are stagnant. Good, well paying jobs are going away and crappy service jobs are replacing them. The "booming economy" is a myth.

[SWBTATTReg]

21. You got it absolutely right. I don't see people being flush w/ money, and are still struggling...

just to make ends meet, etc. If anything, the middle class is shrinking as a percentage of the population compared to before, and the only economic class that's growing is in fact, the billionaires and millionaires (again, I stress not all billionaires and millionaires are this way). Warren Buffet said it best, that there's a problem when his secretary is paying a higher tax rate than he is.

[Kaleva]

20. For every house well above the median, there has to be one well below.

[gblady]

22. I just check median house price

Where I live, on a Puget Sound Island, and it was $680,000 to $840,000 depending on website. I know its pricey here, but didn't realize it was that high. Yikes. So I guess we bring that average up a bit.