Necessary earnings vary geographically, too. In the Los Angeles metropolitan area, for example, the income needed to comfortably afford a typical home—priced at $1,195,000—is $315,892, an 86% increase in six years.
“Even with today’s affordability hurdles, meaningful changes in the market could give buyers a better shot at finding a home,” Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale said in a statement. The number of homes for sale is rising in many markets, she said, “giving shoppers more choices than they’ve had in years.”
Plus, sellers are becoming more flexible on pricing, she said, so “while higher mortgage rates are certainly weighing on demand, the silver lining is that the market is starting to rebalance.”
The number of actively listed homes rose 30.6% compared to the same time last year. For the first time, the number of homes for sale in April surpassed April 2020 levels—a pandemic benchmark, per the Realtor.com analysis. But active inventory is still below typical pre-pandemic levels. Still, more sellers are coming back to market than buyers, and they’re slashing prices to sell. In April, 18% of listings had price reductions, a 2.5% increase compared to a year ago.
