Rising Mortgage Rates Push Housing Affordability to Lowest Level in Index History

Rising mortgage rates, elevated construction costs and limited existing inventory helped push housing affordability in the third quarter of 2023 to its lowest level in more than a decade. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), just 37.4% of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of…

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Square Foot Prices More than Double Inflation in 2022

Median square foot prices (excluding record-high improved lot values) for new for-sale single-family detached (SFD) homes started in 2022 increased 18%, according to NAHB’s analysis of the latest Survey of Construction data. Increases for square foot prices in new custom SFD homes were similarly high, averaging 19%, more than double the US inflation of 8%…

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