Americans finding it harder to afford a home
By Melissa Wirkus
Although the housing market
is slowing considerably across the country,
with prices dropping and inventories increasing,
the majority of Americans are saying that
it is still difficult for them to become
first time home buyers.
One of the problems with affording a house
right now is obviously the inflated prices.
Prices on most homes skyrocketed during
the housing boom, and although prices
are slowly dropping in some areas, it
is nothing considerable, that would make
owning a home really that much more affordable.
Rising mortgage
rates and incomes that did not rise to
meet the new demands are also being blamed
for these affordability problems.
An October 12, 2006 article by The Associated
Press and featured on MSNBC.com, “First-time
home buyers being left out,” discusses
how a large majority of Americans are
finding that the “American Dream”
is becoming harder than ever to attain.
“The go-go days for home prices
are over, but Mike Pietrafesa thinks it
is still tough for people to buy their
first slice of the American dream. ‘There
are lots and lots of houses
for sale that seem as though they are
priced ridiculously and they aren’t
selling,’ said Pietrafesa of Nassau
County, N.Y. ‘I certainly think
that the old standard of having 20 percent
of your house value as a down payment
is really out of the window these days.
I definitely think it is harder, in that
respect, for first-time buyers.’”
According to a recent AP-AOL Real Estate
Poll, 80 percent of Americans think it
is difficult for first time home buyers
to afford a home. And over 59 percent
believe that the situation is worse now
than it was five years ago.
So although we are currently in a buyer’s
market now, and we were in a very strong
seller’s market five years ago,
people still think it’s harder to
afford now.
The survey also found some interesting
results about the types of people and
regions that were finding things least
affordable.
“Younger adults and minorities view
affordability more of a problem now for
first-time buyers compared with five years
ago than do older people and whites, the
poll found.”
“By region, 68 percent of those
in the West and 63 percent of those in
the Northeast say it is more difficult
for first-time buyers
to afford a home than it was five years
ago. Fifty-four percent took this view
in the South, and 51 percent felt this
way in the Midwest.”
About half of the people polled also thought
that the market in their area was overpriced.
“Nationwide, median home values
jumped 32 percent from 2000 to 2005, to
$167,500, the Census Bureau reported.
(The median price is where half sell for
more and half for less.)Even though home
prices have cooled this year, some people
think they are still too high.”
Potential first time homeowners
will just have to employ patience in their
house hunts and keep saving in order to
combat the un-affordability of housing
across the nation.
