Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 16, 1993 TAG: 9311160042
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
"Both first-time and repeat buyers are finding that it's easier to purchase a home with low interest rates and prices more realistic than they were two and three years ago," said William S. Chee, the association president.
The Realtors' composite Housing Affordability Index measured 134.5 points from July through September, up from 126.6 in the same period last year and the highest since it stood at 137.2 in the fourth quarter of 1973. The latest increase was the fifth straight.
When the index measures 100, it means a family earning the median income has exactly the amount needed to buy a median-priced, previously owned home, using conventional financing and a 20 percent down payment.
Another index, measuring the ability of first-time buyers to qualify for a mortgage on a starter home, also rose, to 88 from 83.2 in the same quarter a year ago.
"There are many younger families and renters who remain restricted from purchasing a home because of the difficulty of raising a down payment," Chee said, but "those who can get beyond the down payment hurdle . . . are realizing that in the majority of instances a monthly mortgage payment is much less than the monthly rent check they were writing."
The median income of the typical family during the third quarter was $37,389 and the median home price was $108,400. That means half of the families in the nation had at least 134.5 percent of the income needed to qualify for the purchase of a home with a median price of $108,400.
- Associated Press
by CNB