Atlanta now considered unaffordable for home buyers, according to Atlanta Fed report
According to a recent report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the housing market in Atlanta is considered unaffordable now that the share of income needed to afford the median-price house jumped above 30%. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Month after month, housing prices in metro Atlanta continue to climb at rates we’ve never seen before.
And a recent affordability report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta shows the effect those increases have on our ability to buy a house.
The Home Ownership Affordability Monitor (HOAM) Index is an interactive tool that measures the ability of a typical wage-earning household to afford the typical house in any given market. It uses the HUD standard for affordability — generally accepted to be 30% of a household’s pre-tax income. Anything more is considered unaffordable.
Domonic Purviance is a subject matter expert at the Atlanta Fed. He studies residential real estate markets, looking for vulnerabilities. He told WABE that Atlanta and Nashville are some of the U.S. cities in the Atlanta Fed’s region that saw the steepest increases.
“This is the first time in the history of our index the share of income needed to afford the median-price house jumped above 30%,” Purviance said.
“Whenever it’s above 30%, that means the market is unaffordable.”
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