Toledo 4th in nation in home affordability

2/23/2007

Metro Toledo was the fourth most affordable big city in the nation for home buyers in the last quarter of 2006, according to a study released yesterday.

Only Indianapolis, Youngstown, Detroit, and Buffalo, N.Y., were more affordable among large areas, the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo said in their quarterly housing opportunity index.

Eighty-six percent of homes in metro Toledo were within the means of people earning the median income of $58,900, the study said. The median price of a home was $105,000.

Overall, the metro area ranked 14th in the study, which measured affordability in 202 metro areas. Toledo had lots of company regionally: Lima was tied for fifth overall; Monroe was tied with Toledo for 14th; and Sandusky was 37th.

Nationally, affordability increased slightly in the fourth quarter. Forty-two percent of homes were within the means of households making the national median income of $59,600, authors of the study reported.

The most affordable market nationwide was Springfield, Ohio, where 91 percent of the houses were affordable by families earning the median income of $55,400. Second was Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa and Illinois, the only smaller metro area among the top 10 most affordable that wasn't in Ohio or Michigan.

The least affordable major metro area was Los Angeles. Only 2 percent of homes sold there were affordable to families earning the median $56,200. The median selling price was $525,000.

Other major metro areas ranked low were Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif; San Diego; New York City; and Modesto, Calif.