HOME AFFORDABILITY REMAINS STRAINED NATIONWIDE, WITH MODEST FOURTH QUARTER IMPROVEMENT

Homes in 99 percent of counties less affordable than historic norms; In 86 percent of counties analyzed, homes were more affordable in fourth quarter than third quarter of 2025

IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property data, and real estate analytics, today released its latest U.S. Home Affordability Report showing that homes were less affordable than historical averages in almost every county with sufficient data to analyze for the fourth quarter of 2025.

In 99 percent (586) of the 594 counties in ATTOM’s analysis, median-priced single-family homes and condos were less affordable than historical averages in the final quarter of the year. That had also been the case in the previous two quarters, as the national median home price has hovered around a record high of $365,000.

The most recent data includes a silver lining to the nation’s affordability challenges: While homes were less affordable than years past in the overwhelming majority of markets, they were more affordable in the fourth quarter of 2025 than the third quarter in 86 percent (511) of the 594 counties analyzed.

Mortgage rates also continued to fall, with average interest on a 30-year fixed rate loan dropping from 6.34 percent at the beginning of October to 6.15 percent at the end of the year.

“Many Americans were priced out of buying a home in 2025, and affordability remains worse than historic norms in most markets,” said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM. “Still, modest, quarter-over-quarter affordability improvements in many markets at the end of the year offered some encouragement. Over the past five years, home price growth has nearly doubled wage growth, meaning home buying power in 2026 will depend not only on whether prices level off or decline, but also on mortgage rates and broader economic conditions.”

Over the past five years, the median sales price of a home has risen 54 percent, to $365,185 in the fourth quarter, while typical wages have risen 29 percent, according to the most recent wage data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which covers the second quarter of 2025.

ATTOM determines affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to meet major monthly home ownership expenses—including mortgage payments, mortgage insurance, property taxes and homeowner’s insurance—on a median-priced single-family home and condo, assuming a 20 percent down payment and a 28 percent maximum “front-end” debt-to-income ratio. That required income is measured against annualized average weekly wage data from the BLS (see full methodology below).

In 74.1 percent (440) of counties, those major home expenses consumed more than 28 percent of the typical resident’s wages, making ownership unaffordable by standard guidelines.

The most populous counties where typical home expenses exceeded the 28 percent of wages threshold were Los Angeles County, CA (67.5 percent of typical wages); Maricopa County, AZ (38.1 percent of wages); San Diego, CA (67.4 percent of wages); Orange County, CA (90.3 percent of wages); and Miami-Dade County, FL (43.6 percent of wages).

The largest counties where home ownership expenses would be considered affordable were Cook County, IL (26.4 percent of typical wages); Harris County, TX (21.9 percent of wages); Dallas County, TX (27.6 percent of wages); Philadelphia County, PA (19.2 percent of wages); and Cuyahoga County, OH (19.6 percent of wages).

Median home prices rose in more than two thirds of counties
The national median home prices rose marginally to $365,185 in the fourth quarter, up slightly from $365,000 in each of the previous two quarters. Typical home prices rose annually in 69.5 percent (413) of the 594 counties analyzed. Counties were included in the report if they had populations of at least 100,000 and at least 50 single-family home and condo sales in the fourth quarter.

Among the 47 counties in the report with populations over 1 million, those with the largest annual increase in median home sales prices were Suffolk County, NY (up 8 percent); Fulton County, GA (up 7 percent); Allegheny County, PA (up 6 percent); Bronx County, NY (up 6 percent); and Nassau County, NY (up 6 percent).

Of those largest counties, the largest annual drops in home prices were in Honolulu County, HI (down 10 percent); Bexar County, TX (down 5 percent); Hillsborough County, FL (down 5 percent); Alameda County, CA (down 5 percent); and Sacramento County, CA (down 5 percent).

View Q4 2025 U.S. Home Affordability Heat Map

Home price growth lagged wage growth in a majority of counties
The cost of a median-priced home grew at a greater rate than typical wages in 43.3 percent (257) of counties analyzed.

The most populous counties where home price growth outpaced wage growth were Kings County, NY; Queens County, NY; Middlesex County, MA; Philadelphia County, PA; and Suffolk County, NY.

The most populous counties where wages grew at a greater rate than home prices were Los Angeles County, CA; Cook County, IL; Harris County, TX; Maricopa County, AZ; and San Diego County, CA.

Homes seriously unaffordable in nearly a third of counties
The typical monthly cost of mortgage payments, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance, and property taxes was $2,015 in the fourth quarter of 2025. That was down 2 percent from the previous quarter and down 1 percent from the previous year.

In the fourth quarter, those major home purchase expenses for a national median priced home would have consumed 31.4 percent of the typical American’s wages.

In 29.5 percent (175) of the 594 counties analyzed, home purchase expenses in the fourth quarter exceeded 43 percent of the typical county resident’s wages, a benchmark considered seriously unaffordable.

California counties least affordable
Of the 25 counties where purchasing a median-priced home would consume the greatest percent of a typical resident’s wages, 14 were in California, followed by three each in New York and New Jersey.

The counties where purchasing a home was least affordable were Kings County, NY (103.1 percent of typical wages required to buy); Marin County, CA (97.3 percent); Santa Cruz County, CA (94.4 percent); Orange County, CA (90.3 percent); and Monterey County, CA (90.3 percent).

Besides Kings and Orange counties, the counties with populations over 1 million that were the least affordable were Queens County, NY (77.1 percent of typical wages required to buy); Nassau County, NY (74 percent); and Los Angeles County, CA (67.5 percent).

A buyer would have had to earn $86,374 in the fourth quarter to purchase a national median-priced home and keep expenses below the recommended threshold of 28 percent of annual income. The counties with the highest annual wage requirements to afford a median-priced home were San Mateo County, CA ($373,078 annual wage); New York County, NY ($361,784); Santa Clara County, CA ($355,001); Marin County, CA (327,995); and San Francisco County, CA ($326,345).

Nearly all counties less affordable than years past
In 99 percent (586) of the 594 counties analyzed, median-priced homes were less affordable than they have historically been. The counties with the lowest affordability index ratings—indicating they were the least affordable compared to historical norms—were Lackawanna County, PA (affordability index of 57); Jackson County, MS (affordability index of 58); Berrien County, MI (affordability index of 60); Saint Lucie County, FL (affordability index of 61); and Niagara County, NY (affordability index of 61).

Conclusion
ATTOM’s fourth quarter 2025 U.S. Home Affordability Report shows median-priced single-family homes and condos were less affordable than historical averages in 99 percent of analyzed counties, as the national median home price hovered at $365,185. About 86 percent of the 594 counties analyzed saw affordability improve compared to the prior quarter, with wages outpacing home price growth in more than half of them. Despite a drop in mortgage rates during the quarter, homeownership remained out of reach for many, with monthly housing costs consuming over 31 percent of the average wage. The report highlights ongoing affordability challenges in high-cost regions like California and New York.

Report Methodology
The ATTOM U.S. Home Affordability Index analyzed median home prices derived from publicly recorded sales deed data collected by ATTOM and average wage data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 594 U.S. counties with a combined population of 260 million during the fourth quarter of 2025. The affordability index is based on the percentage of average wages needed to pay for major expenses on a median-priced home with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and a 20 percent down payment. Those expenses include property taxes, home insurance, mortgage payments and mortgage insurance. Average 30-year fixed interest rates from the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey were used to calculate monthly house payments.

The report determined affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed for major home-ownership expenses on median-priced homes, assuming a loan of 80 percent of the purchase price and a 28 percent maximum “front-end” debt-to-income ratio. For example, affording the nationwide median home price of $365,185 in the fourth quarter of 2025 requires an annual wage of $86,374. That is based on a $73,037 down payment, a $292,148 loan and monthly expenses not exceeding the 28 percent barrier — meaning wage earners would not be spending more than 28 percent of their pay on mortgage payments, property taxes and insurance. That required income is more than the $77,038 average wage nationwide, based on the most recent average weekly wage data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, making a median-priced home unaffordable for average workers.

About ATTOM
ATTOM powers innovation across industries with premium property data and analytics covering 158 million U.S. properties—99% of the population. Our multi-sourced real estate data includes property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, neighborhood and geospatial boundary information, all validated through a rigorous 20-step process and linked by a unique ATTOM ID.

From flexible delivery solutions—such as Property Data APIs, Bulk File Licenses, ATTOM Cloud, Real Estate Market Trends—to AI-Ready datasets, ATTOM fuels smarter decision-making across industries including real estate, mortgage, insurance, government, and more.

Media Contact:
Megan Hunt
megan.hunt@attomdata.com

Data and Report Licensing:
datareports@attomdata.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/home-affordability-remains-strained-nationwide-with-modest-fourth-quarter-improvement-302656857.html

SOURCE ATTOM