Financial Street

Many have asked me to find an affordability index that goes back to the 1980s. They wanted to compare today’s level of affordability to that time frame. I have found some data going back to 1975 and have put together the chart below. A few observations I made after completing the graph: 🔸In the early 1980s, it was in fact less affordable to buy a home than it is today. 🔸From an affordability standpoint, the best time to buy a home was 2013. Prices hadn’t fully recovered from the GFC and mortgage rates had fallen dramatically. 🔸From an affordability standpoint, it was a sensational time to buy a home from 2009 through 2021. 🔸The extraordinary affordability levels during that decade added to the exceptional rise in home values over that time. That in turn…along with a quick and dramatic rise in mortgage rates…has led to the affordability challenges we face today. Please feel free to post your observations in the comments. DISCLAIMERS: I put the graph together FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES ONLY. Don’t get caught up in the minutiae of the methodology. The index serves as an apples-to-apples comparison over the decades. I don’t mean to be difficult but I need to set some guardrails regarding a post like this. So, for your information… 🔹This is not my index. It is one put forward by dqydj.com. 🔹I have no control over their methodology so please don’t debate that with me. Go to their website if you want further clarification of their methodology. 🔹I will not be taking special requests to add or subtract data to customize the graph. 🔹If you are not satisfied with any aspect of the data or graph, you basically have four choices: 1.) Ignore it. 2.) Do the research and work necessary to develop a graph that will better serve your needs. 3.) Pay someone to customize it to exactly what you want. (Anticipate the cost to be between $5,000 and $10,000.) 4.) Use this graph as-is for free. 😁 (my suggestion).