It is given that purchasing power is always desired. But with all the current trends in the real estate industry, how true is it that many believe that house-buying power is near historic levels?
We keep hearing that home affordability is approaching crisis levels. While this may be true in a few metros across the country, housing affordability is not a challenge in the clear majority of the country. In their most recent Real House Price Index, First American reported that consumer "house-buying power" is at "near-historic levels." Their index is based on three components:
- Median Household Income
- Mortgage Interest Rates
- Home Prices
The report explains: 
Combining these three crucial pieces of the home purchasing process, First American created an index delineating the actual home-buying power that consumers have had dating back to 1991.
Here is a graph comparing First American's consumer house-buying power (blue area) to the actual median home price that year from the National Association of Realtors (yellow line). 
Consumer house-buyer power has been greater than the actual price of a home since 1991. And, the spread is larger over the last decade.
Even though home prices are increasing rapidly and are now close to the values last seen a decade ago, the actual affordability of a home is much better now. As Chief Economist Mark Fleming explains in the report: 
Reference:https://bit.ly/2zBfpC0
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