Indy is Most Affordable

Indianapolis Tops Housing Affordability List(January 6, 2006) --

The Indianapolis area ranks as the most affordable housing market among big metro areas, according to the third-quarter 2005 National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index.

The index charts housing costs in cities with populations of more than 500,000. In Indianapolis, 89.7 percent of the new and existing homes sold in third quarter 2005 were affordable to those earning the area median income of $64,000. The median home price was $125,000.

"Land is affordable here," says Beckie Agan, president of the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of REALTORS® and broker-associate with Carpenter, REALTORS® in Mooresville, Ind.

Agan adds that while the area is affordable, it has a wide price range of homes, including $1 million-plus properties. “We’ve also always have nice, steady increases in property values,” she says.

The other top affordable markets also were in the Midwest. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman in Ohio and Pennsylvania ranked second and Detroit-Litonia-Dearborn in Michigan ranked third.

Los Angeles was the nation's least affordable housing market, where only 2.4 percent of all homes sold were affordable to those earning the median income of $54,500. The median sales price in Los Angeles was $495,000. Among small markets, Mansfield, Ohio, was the most affordable housing market.

—By Jane Adler for REALTOR® Magazine Online