Black Knight Mortgage Monitor: "Housing costs to current income levels within a whisper of all time high in 2006"

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Black Knight Mortgage Monitor: "Housing costs to current income levels within a whisper of all time high in 2006"

A brief excerpt:

Note: Black Knights data on affordability goes back to 1996. This doesn’t include housing in the 1980 period when 30-year mortgage rates peaked at over 18%.

And on the payment to income ratio:

• May marked the least affordable housing since July 2006, and ranked among the three least affordable months on record

• The monthly payment required to purchase the average price home with 20% down jumped another $100 through mid-May, and is now up nearly $600 (+44%) from the start of the year and $865 (+79%) from the start of the pandemic

• When comparing the rise in housing costs to current income levels, it now takes 33.7% of the median household income to purchase the average priced home, within a whisper of the 34.1% all time high at its peak in June 2006

During the housing bubble, there were “affordability products” with low teaser rates available. Excluding the bubble years, this is the worst affordability since at least the early ‘90s, maybe ‘80s.

There is much more in the article. You can subscribe at https://calculatedrisk.substack.com/