by Calculated Risk on 9/12/2007 10:55:00 AM

From the NY Times: Housing Costs Consumed More of Paychecks in 2006

Housing costs ate up more of the monthly paycheck for millions of Americans in 2006 than the year before, despite signs of a slowdown in the housing market, according to figures made public today by the Census Bureau.

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Nationally, half of renters and more than one third of mortgage holders — 37 percent, up from 35 percent in 2005, or a rise of more than 1.5 million households — spent at least 30 percent of their gross income on housing costs, the level many government agencies consider the limit of affordability.