America's Housing Affordability Gap Persists: Households Earning $75,000 Annually Can Afford Less Than a Quarter of For-Sale Home Listings
WASHINGTON, May 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Key Highlights
- The U.S. housing market still needs 367,000 more home listings at a maximum price of $170,000, 416,000 more priced at or below $255,000 and 364,000 more priced under $340,000.
- For the U.S. housing supply, a sizable amount (44%) of the 100 largest metropolitan areas is classified as "Areas Stuck in the Middle," 30% as "Areas Getting Closer to Balance" and 26% as "Areas Falling Further Behind."
- Montana, Idaho, California, Massachusetts and Hawaii have the largest shortfalls in affordable housing.
U.S. households earning $75,000 a year can only afford 21.2% of home listings as of March 2025 – up slightly from 20.8% a year prior and representing the biggest gain of any income group – demonstrating that the nation's housing affordability gap persists, according to the National Association of Realtors® and Realtor.com® 2025 Housing Affordability & Supply report.
The report analyzes the shortage of affordable homes across different income levels in the current U.S. housing market. It provides a real-time, income-specific snapshot of housing affordability, examining what home buyers at various income levels can afford based on standard lending criteria.
For-sale housing inventory increased nearly 20% nationwide in March 2025 from one year earlier, and while this gain marks progress, it remains far from pre-pandemic conditions.
"The housing market is at a turning point," said Nadia Evangelou, NAR senior economist and director of real estate research. "More homes are hitting the market, and it's encouraging to see the greatest housing-supply gains among middle-income home buyers."
While households earning $75,000 a year experienced a slight improvement in accessibility to home listings between March 2025 (21.2%) and March 2024 (20.8%), the largest gain of any income group, they have less than half of the access to affordable homes than they had before the pandemic, when nearly 49% of listings were accessible. In a balanced housing market – where listings are aligned with what households at various income levels can afford – these home buyers would need access to 48.1% of listings. To reach that threshold, the market needs nearly 416,000 more listings priced at or below $255,000.
Households that earn $100,000 annually are in a similar situation. They can currently afford 37.1% of home listings, up slightly from 36.9% in March 2024. That is far below the 64.7% they could afford in 2019 and well below the 60.7% target for market balance. This group faces a shortage of nearly 364,000 home listings priced under $340,000.
A household earning $50,000 annually can only afford 8.7% of home listings today, down from 9.4% one year ago. These low-income households represent one-in-three households, and in a balanced housing market, they should be able to afford to buy one-in-three listings. For balance, about 367,000 listings at a maximum price of $170,000 are vital.
Meanwhile, higher-income households have near-total access to the housing market. Home buyers earning $250,000 or more can afford at least 80% of home listings.
"Shoppers see more homes for sale today than one year ago, and encouragingly, many of these homes have been added at moderate income price points," said Danielle Hale, Realtor.com® chief economist. "But as this report shows, we still don't have an abundance of homes that are affordable to low- and moderate-income households, and the progress that we've seen is not happening everywhere. It's been concentrated in the Midwest and the South."
As of March 2025, 30% of the 100 largest metropolitan areas are classified as "Areas Getting Closer to Balance," where the availability of affordable homes improved significantly over the past year and is relatively strong across income levels. Substantial progress has been made in markets that were previously considered unaffordable, with the affordable home listings improving by more than 5% within the past year. These areas now have housing affordability gaps that are less than 10 percentage points below a balanced housing market.
Akron, Ohio; St. Louis, Mo.; Youngstown, Ohio; and Pittsburgh, Pa. exhibit housing conditions that closely align with healthy supply benchmarks. While they are not yet fully balanced, Raleigh, N.C.; Des Moines, Iowa; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Columbia, S.C.; and Columbus, Ohio made substantial progress increasing the availability of affordable homes.
"For many first-time home buyers, navigating the current housing market still feels like window shopping," added Evangelou. "Listing prices don't match first-time home buyers' budgets. If the promising trend of building smaller homes continues, that could be a meaningful step toward easing the housing affordability gap for more buyers."
A sizable slice (44%) of the 100-largest metropolitan areas is classified as "Areas Stuck in the Middle," where housing supply and demand are misaligned but not at crisis levels. Some markets made small-but-meaningful gains in one year – adding a modest number of affordable listings – but gains have not been substantial enough to shift the market.
Seattle, Wash. and Washington, D.C. experienced moderate increases in the share of homes considered affordable over the past year, with an average rise of 4 percentage points. While that marks progress, both cities still face some of the largest affordability gaps in the country, requiring households to earn more than $150,000 a year just to afford half the homes on the market. In contrast, Austin, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Denver, Colo., made substantial progress, boosting the share of affordable listings by an average of 20 percentage points. Notably, San Francisco, Calif. has also seen very significant improvement, with the supply of affordable listings surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
"Even in high-cost areas like San Francisco, we're witnessing real progress," explained Evangelou. "While the housing market remains far from balanced, current for-sale home listings better align with home buyers' incomes compared to pre-COVID-19 levels – a clear reminder that improvement is possible."
Twenty-six percent of the 100-largest metro areas are classified as "Areas Falling Further Behind," where the gap from a balanced housing market continues to widen, worsening housing affordability. In these metropolitan areas, the availability of affordable listings has either declined over the past year or remains more than 20 percentage points below what is considered a balanced housing market, highlighting a troubling trend in housing accessibility.
Despite being home to millions and some of the strongest local economies, Los Angeles, Calif.; Oxnard, Calif.; San Diego, Calif.; New York, N.Y.; and Spokane, Wash. are among the furthest from housing-supply balance. Even with improvement since last year, these areas continue to face the most severe shortages of affordable home listings.
From a state perspective, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia lead the nation in offering balanced housing market conditions. In most of these states, a household earning $75,000 – close to the national median – can afford more than 45% of the for-sale home listings. Although they are improving with additional inventory and moving in the right direction, Montana, Idaho, California, Massachusetts and Hawaii still need a plentiful supply of affordable home listings. Delaware, Utah, Colorado, Florida and Arizona showed the most improvement with significant year-over-year gains in housing affordability. Only the District of Columbia improved affordability compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Methodology and Definitions
Please refer to page 22 of the 2025 Housing Affordability & Supply report for methodology and definitions.
About the National Association of Realtors®
As America's largest trade association, the National Association of Realtors® is involved in all aspects of residential and commercial real estate. The term Realtor® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of Realtors® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. For free consumer guides about navigating the homebuying and selling transaction processes – from written buyer agreements to negotiating compensation – visit facts.realtor.
About Realtor.com®
Realtor.com® pioneered online real estate and has been at the forefront for over 25 years, connecting buyers, sellers, and renters with trusted insights, professional guidance and powerful tools to help them find their perfect home. Recognized as the No. 1 site trusted by real estate professionals, Realtor.com® is a valued partner, delivering consumer connections and a robust suite of marketing tools to support business growth. Realtor.com® is operated by News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS, NWSA]) [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc.
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Information about NAR is available at nar.realtor. This and other news releases are posted in the newsroom at nar.realtor/newsroom. Statistical data in this release, as well as other tables and surveys, are posted in the "Research and Statistics" tab.
Attachments
- Infographic: Share of homes that households earning $75,000 annually can afford
- Infographic: Housing Supply - Who's close, who's stuck and who's falling behind
Lauren Cozzi National Association of REALTORS® 202/383-1178 [email protected]