The current housing market offers a crushing affordability picture for would-be-homebuyers and is keeping many out of the market. The monthly payment on an average-priced home now requires 40% of the median household income, making housing the least affordable it’s been since 1984, according to ICE. “Longer term Treasury yields — which mortgage rates tend to follow — depend on expected economic growth and inflation expectations,” said Orphe Divounguy, senior economist at Zillow. The median household income was $74,580 in 2022, according to the US Census Bureau. “Good news in the economy causes rates to stay higher for longer — but the longer rates are higher, the more likely something in the market goes ‘boom.’”

Source: CNN October 21, 2023 13:09 UTC