The latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) found that nominal wage gains combined with lower mortgage rates and home prices helped to boost housing affordability at the start of 2023.
Washington, DC, February 9, 2023—Mirroring a steep rise in mortgage rates that began in the early part of 2022 and coupled with ongoing building material supply chain bottlenecks that increased construction costs, housing affordability posted three consecutive quarterly declines in 2022 and now stands at its lowest level since the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) began tracking it on a consistent basis in 2012.