The Denver Post reports that first-time homebuyers are struggling to afford homes as prices rise faster than wages.
In the seven years since the housing crash ended, home values in more than three-quarters of U.S. metro areas have climbed faster than incomes, according to an Associated Press analysis of real estate industry data provided by CoreLogic.
The high cost of home ownership is also putting extreme pressure on 20- and 30-somethings as they try to balance mortgage payments, student loans, child care and their careers.
A Redfin analysis found these buyers are leaving too-hot-to-touch big-city markets—among them, San Francisco and Seattle, where the tech boom has sent housing prices into the stratosphere. The brokerage found that many millennials are instead buying in more reasonable priced neighborhoods around places like Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, and Raleigh, North Carolina. That, in turn, is driving up housing prices in those communities.
Advertisement
Related Stories
Financing
Mortgage Rates Set to Remain Higher for Longer
After the Fed's announcement on Wednesday that it is holding interest rates steady, homebuyers hoping for lower mortgage rates will have to keep waiting
Financing
As Mortgage Rates Dip, Homeowners With High Rates Move to Refinance
A decrease in rates last week prompted a rise in refinancing by homeowners who obtained their mortgages at near-peak rates
Market Data + Trends
January's Mortgage Rate Dip Prompts Some Thawing of the Housing Market
A drop in mortgage rates from recent peaks nudged more homebuyers and sellers into the market, signaling the start of greater supply and demand