Latest news with #NationalAssociationofRealtors
CNBC
3 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
The best places in America to buy a house on a $125,000 salary
If you want as many options as possible when house hunting, don't sleep on Ohio. The Buckeye State is home to the five areas with the most affordable homes for Americans making $125,000, according to the 2025 Housing Affordability and Supply Report from the National Association of Realtors and The South was well represented in the top 10, too, including cities in Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina and Texas. The U.S. housing market "is at a turning point," says NAR Senior Economist Nadia Evangelou. After a years-long shortage, inventory has started to rebound: The number of listings shot up nearly 20% between March 2024 and March 2025. But an affordability gap persists. "For many first-time homebuyers, navigating the current housing market still feels like window shopping," Evangelou said in a release. "Listing prices don't match [their] budgets." According to the report, middle- and upper-middle-income homebuyers (households earning between $75,000 and $100,000 a year) have seen the largest uptick in affordable housing supply. Meanwhile, households earning $75,000 are only able to afford about a fifth of home listings nationwide. Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent availability.10–30 years62010-, 15- and 30-year fixed-term conventional loans, 30-year VA and FHA loans, custom mortgages with fixed-rate terms from 8 to 29 years.620 To determine the share of listings that are financially accessible on a $125,000 salary, NAR used listings from March 2025 in the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSA).The calculations are based on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a down payment of 20% or less, assuming that no more than 30% of a family's earnings are allocated toward housing, as recommended by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Maximum home price: $410,340Share of affordable listings: 89% The MSA encompassing Youngstown and Boardman, Ohio, and Warren, Pennsylvania, is popular with commuters who work in nearby Cleveland or Pittsburgh. In 2024, NAR identified Youngstown as one of the last metro areas where a household of nearly any income level could find an affordable single-family home. Maximum home price: $402,940Share of affordable listings: 83% The fourth-largest MSA in Ohio, the greater Dayton area includes Kettering and the surrounding Miami Valley. A loss of manufacturing jobs and the 2008 housing market crash fueled a steep population decline, but the region has begun to recover: In 2022, the population was over 812,000, up from 799,700 in 2010. Maximum home price: $413,210Share of affordable listings: 82.7% Akron was the heart of the U.S tire and rubber industries throughout the 20th century, and both Bridgestone and Goodyear still have a major presence. The median household income in the Akron MSA was $48,544 in 2023, a 4.18% increase from 2022. Maximum home price: $408,270Share of affordable listings: 81.5% The Toledo MSA, which includes Ohio's Fulton, Lucas, and Wood Counties, has long been a bedroom community for Detroit. It's also home to Fortune 500 company Owens Corning, the world's largest manufacturer of fiberglass composites. Maximum home price: $414,350Share of affordable listings: 79.3% The Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio, MSA incorporates Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, and Medin Counties. In 2022, it had a population of 2.06 million, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in the state and the 33rd-largest in the nation. Maximum home price: $381,960Share of affordable listings: 79.1% Northeastern Pennsylvania's coal industry helped fuel the American industrial revolution. In 2024, the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre MSA remained the state's fifth-largest metropolitan area, with a population of 574,000. Maximum home price: $423,590Share of affordable listings: 78.2% The state capital, Little Rock is a political, economic and cultural hub in the American South. The Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway MSA has seen a population surge over the last half-century, from 396,462 in 1970 to nearly 777,000 in 2024, Maximum home price: $427,430Share of affordable listings: 78.1% About 30 minutes east of Tampa, the Lakeland-Winter Haven MSA had a population of 852,878 in 2024, a major increase from 485,378 in 2000. Florida Southern College in Lakeland is home to the largest gathering of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world. Maximum home price: $362,540Share of affordable listings: 78.0% The population of the El Paso MSA ballooned from 680,942 in 2000 to 879,392 in 2024. Located on the Mexico-U.S. border, El Paso is the epicenter of the Borderplex Region, considered the largest bilingual workforce in the Western Hemisphere. Maximum home price: $436,330Share of affordable listings: 77.8% The Columbia MSA is another region enjoying a growth spurt in the last quarter-century, with a population that jumped from 649,181 in 2000 to 870,193 in 2024. In addition to serving as the state capital, Columbia is home to Fort Jackson, where roughly half of all soldiers in the U.S. Army receive basic combat training. According to HUD, no more than 30% of your gross income should go toward housing expenses. That includes mortgage principal and interest, as well as: With that in mind, someone earning $125,000 a year should keep their total housing budget to $3,125 a month or less. How much you can spend depends on the size of your down payment, and the cost of expenses like homeowners insurance, property taxes and private mortgage insurance in your location. When NAR accounted for these variables, it found that the maximum price that families earning $125,000 could afford ranged from $356,940 to $542,440. See how much home you can afford using our mortgage calculator. In part, the current scarcity is being fueled by Covid-era supply-chain issues, material costs and labor shortages. But new home builds dropped sharply after the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis. And historically high mortgage rates have deterred many homeowners from selling, just as millennials entered their peak homebuying years. According to the Federal Reserve, the median U.S. home price in the first quarter of 2025 was $416,900. There are wide variations depending on the state, city and neighborhood you live in, however, and that figure doesn't factor in homeowners insurance, property taxes and other housing expenses. Someone earning $125,000 a year can spend as much as $542,440 on a house, depending on their location, down payment, outside financial obligations, current mortgage rates and other factors. Ohio is considered the most affordable state for homebuyers. The median household income is 1.5 times more than what's needed to afford a median-priced home in the state. At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every mortgage article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of financial products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Housing contract activity dropped sharply in April as volatility and high rates reigned
Home contract signings took a nosedive in April as high mortgage rates and tariff uncertainty weighed on prospective buyers. The Pending Home Sales Index fell 6.3% in April from a month earlier to 71.3, according to the National Association of Realtors. Economists had been expecting a more modest 1% decline. A reading of 100 is equal to the level of housing contract activity in 2001. Year over year, pending contracts were down 2.5% nationwide. Contract activity was down month over month in all parts of the country and decreased year over year in all regions except the Midwest, which saw a 2.2% gain. The latest drop in activity comes even as homebuyers have more to choose from in most markets. According to nearly 1 million homes were active on the market in April, up more than 30% from a year earlier. But prices are still near all-time highs, and mortgage rates remain well above 6%, making the market unaffordable for many. Read more: When will mortgage rates go down to 4%? By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy 'At this critical stage of the housing market, it is all about mortgage rates,' NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. 'Despite an increase in housing inventory, we are not seeing higher home sales. Lower mortgage rates are essential to bring homebuyers back into the housing market.' Last month, house hunters contended with particularly volatile mortgage rates and fresh economic uncertainty stemming from President Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariff announcements on April 2. Learn more: Historical mortgage rates — How do they compare to current rates? Investor panic in the aftermath of the tariff announcement sent stocks falling and bond yields and mortgage rates rising. Average 30-year mortgage rates started last month at around 6.64% before rocketing toward 7%. They finished the month at around 6.8% and have hovered there since. Homes usually go under contract a month or two before they're sold, and while not all contracts close, pending home sales are typically an early indicator of housing market activity. Claire Boston is a Senior Reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance. Sign up for the Mind Your Money newsletter Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
US pending home sales fall sharply in April
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Contracts to buy U.S. previously owned homes fell more than expected in April as rising mortgage rates and economic uncertainty weighed on demand. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Thursday its Pending Home Sales Index, based on signed contracts, dropped 6.3% to 71.3 last month. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast contracts, which become sales after a month or two, falling 1.0%. Pending home sales declined 2.5% from a year earlier. "At this critical stage of the housing market, it is all about mortgage rates," said Lawrence Yun, the NAR's chief economist. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 6.81% in April from around 6.65% in March, data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac showed.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
10 Affordable Cities To Live in With Potential ‘Million-Dollar Markets'
Median home prices reached $403,700 in the first quarter of 2025, according to the National Association of Realtors. While analysts expect modest growth this year and next due to soft demand, some markets are poised to see major surges over the longer term. Find Out: Consider This: A recent analysis of America's 100 largest metropolitan areas identified the most affordable markets where median prices could hit $1 million by 2033. The forecasts are based on growth from 2014 to 2019, which economists applied to 2023 prices to make their predictions. GOBankingRates has listed the cities, their current median sale prices (according to and the price predictions below. To help you put those figures in context, the list includes cost-of-living and median income data from Payscale and the U.S. Census, respectively. Most of these cities are in the Western U.S., but cities in Hawaii and Massachusetts also made the list. Be Aware: Median sale price: $498,500 2028 price forecast: $735,026 2033 price forecast: $1,162,910 analysis found that Boise home prices grew 58.2% from 2014 to 2019. The economists used that figure to forecast growth for five- and 10-year periods beginning with 2023. Note: Median household income is $81,308, according to the U.S. Census, using 2023 dollars. That's less than 1% above the national median of $80,613. But Paysale estimated Boise's cost of living to be 4% higher than the national average. Median sale price: $522,200 2028 price forecast: $724,614 2033 price forecast: $1,064,147 Sacramento home prices grew 46.9% from 2014 to 2019 and stood at $493,414 in 2023, the base year for projections. They're already up nearly 6% since then. The current sale price of $522,200 will stretch the budget of a family earning a median household income of $74,925, especially considering that the cost of living is 10% higher than the national average. Median sale price: $542,300 2028 price forecast: $726,105 2033 price forecast: $1,051,838 Prices are already up 8% since 2023, which is consistent with 44.9% growth from 2014 to 2019. While median household income in Portland is well above average at $88,792, so is the cost of living, which is 19% higher than average. Median sale price: $460,000 2028 price forecast: $680,980 2033 price forecast: $1,019,929 If the 2023-to-2028 increase in Colorado Springs home prices matches the 49.8% increase from 2014 to 2019, what is now only a marginally affordable market could be out of reach of many, if not most, current residents. Median household income is just over $83,000, and the cost of living is 5% higher than average. Median sale price: $430,000 2028 price forecast: $915,467 2033 price forecast: $1,446,731 The Stockton real estate market saw the greatest 2014-2019 increase of any city on this list: a whopping 58%. Home prices are already well above average, and the overall cost of living is 19% higher than average. That makes it difficult for a household earning the city's median income, $76,851, to buy. And it's only going to get harder, with prices expected to more than double by 2028 and hit $1,446,731 by 2033. Median sale price: $620,000 2028 price forecast: $842,932 2033 price forecast: $1,296,676 Denver is the second-fastest-growing market on this list, with 53.8% growth between 2014 and 2019, and about 109% growth expected from now through 2033. That could make real estate a tough sell for families with income at or below the $91,681 median. However, if you can swing it and overall living costs that are 9% above average, a Denver home purchase could be a great long-term investment. Median sale price: $485,000 2028 price forecast: $784,301 2033 price forecast: $1,103,325 Sacramento is one of the more affordable cities listed here, with median home prices well below $500,000 and median household income of $83,753, although the cost of living is 25% higher. Home prices grew 40.7% from 2014 to 2019. At that rate, they'll hit a median $1,103,325 by 2033. Median sale price: $799,000 2028 price forecast: $786,000 2033 price forecast: $991,804 Boston home prices increased just 26.2% from 2014 to 2019, and they could fall over the next few years before heading upward again. That's likely good news for Boston renters who are already hard-pressed to buy on a median income of $94,755. It's not just home prices that are high — the overall cost of living is 46% higher than the national average. Median sale price: $610,000 2028 price forecast: $883,931 2033 price forecast: $1,143,830 Hawaii has a well-deserved reputation for high home prices, but Honolulu is a pocket of relative affordability. Living costs are 85% higher than the national average, in large part because of home prices. But with a median household income of $104,264, earnings are also well above average. Honolulu home prices grew a robust 29.4% from 2014 to 2019, and they're poised to reach over $1.14 million by 2033. Median sale price: $900,000 2028 price forecast: $1,015,739 2033 price forecast: $1,485,885 The priciest home market on list saw 46.3% growth from 2014 to 2019, and if the projections are correct, it'll be the first to reach $1 million. The cost of living here is 46% above average due primarily to housing. But median household income is 51% above average — $121,984. More From GOBankingRates 4 Affordable Car Brands You Won't Regret Buying in 2025 4 Housing Markets That Have Plummeted in Value Over the Past 5 Years This article originally appeared on 10 Affordable Cities To Live in With Potential 'Million-Dollar Markets'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
State reminds buyers of new real estate law ahead of home buying season
(WKBN) – As the spring buying season heats up, the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing is reminding buyers about changes to the relationship with their real estate agent. The notice surrounds changes that came about last August when Ohio House Bill 466 went into effect, which requires buyer agents to have a written agency agreement in place, including details about compensation, before they can conduct most real estate activities on behalf of their client. House Bill 466's legislation doesn't necessarily require an agreement to do things such as tour a home, however, a settlement agreement stemming from a lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors (NAR) requires one, and most real estate agents are members of NAR. House hunters have the option of signing an exclusive or nonexclusive buyer agency agreement or working directly with a seller's agent with the seller's approval. Here are some commonly asked questions about the new law: If you want to buy a home and hire an agent, do you need to sign a buyer's agent agreement?While Ohio law technically allows a buyer agent to show properties without a written agreement, most agents are members of the National Association of Realtors and must comply with the settlement agreement requiring a signed buyer agency agreement before showing homes. Consumers have the option of signing an exclusive or nonexclusive buyer agency agreement or working directly with a seller's agent with the seller's approval. What is the difference between exclusive and nonexclusive agreements?An exclusive agreement guarantees the agent earns their commission no matter who sells the property. In other words, the buyer agrees not to work with another agent while the agreement is in effect. A nonexclusive agreement provides the agent with a commission only if you purchase a property they introduced you to. As a result of HB 466, all agreements must include the amount and terms of the agent's compensation. Can you view a home without a buyer's agent?Yes, you can view a property by coordinating the visit with the seller's agent. Keep in mind, if you decide to make an offer, you will need to choose whether to proceed unrepresented or to utilize dual agency, if the brokerage allows it. Dual agency means the agent acts as a neutral facilitator for both the buyer and seller, ensuring fairness while not advocating for either party. If this option is chosen, both buyer and seller must authorize a dual agency agreement in order to proceed. Do you need to sign an agreement to attend an open house?No, you are not required to sign an agreement with a buyer agent or listing agent to attend an open house. If you are already working with a buyer agent, it's best to discuss open houses with them in advance. Remember, the listing agent represents the seller, so be cautious about disclosing personal or financial details. You can learn more about Ohio's real estate law and the new legislation on the Department of Commerce website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
