The Fact
HUD’s archived National Association of REALTORS® housing-affordability table shows that in 1980 the median existing-home price was $62,200, median family income was $21,023, and the income required to qualify was $26,328. The qualifying-income figure was therefore about 25% above median family income.
What This Means
Ten years later, the math had flipped. By 1980, a lender wanted about 25% more income than the typical family actually made to buy the typical home. The middle-income family had gone from comfortably qualifying to coming up short.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Housing Market Conditions, Historical Data Table 11: Housing Affordability Index, 1970–Present; National Association of REALTORS® series.