According to what RealtyTrac tells MHProNews, their Home Affordability Index indicates housing markets were less affordable than their historic norms in 18 percent of counties nationwide for the 2^nd quarter. In the first quarter only five percent of counties were less affordable than their historically normal levels, having risen 13 points. A year ago that number stood at 20 percent, as nationalmortgagenews reports.

To determine the number, RealtyTrac analyzes median home prices and average wage data for 417 counties that have a population of 210 million. Prior to the second quarter, home prices had increased faster than wages in over half of the counties studied for the past 16 consecutive quarters.

“Although nearly one in five U.S. housing markets was not affordable by historic standards in the second quarter, the good news is that affordability is improving compared to a year ago in the majority of markets thanks to a combination of slowing home price appreciation and accelerating wage growth, along with falling interest rates,” said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at RealtyTrac.

Counties where home prices outpaced wage growth include four of the largest metro areas: , Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Phoenix. However, wage growth was faster than home price growth in 55 percent of the counties analyzed. ##

(Image credit: fotosearch)

Article submitted by Matthew J Silver to Daily Business News-MHProNews.