Even through housing prices gained ground in the third quarter of 2014 the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said today that affordability remained high.  An estimated 61.8 percent of the homes that sold during the quarter were deemed "affordable" by families earning the median income.  In the third quarter that income on a national level was $63,900.

The affordability measure was only a slight dip from the second quarter when the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOE) was at 62.6 percent.  Median home prices increased from $214,000 in the second quarter to $221,000 in the third but mortgage interest rates eased from 4.44 percent to 4.35 percent over the same time frame.

"Even with nationwide home prices reaching their highest level since the end of 2007, affordability still remains fairly high by historical standards," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "Rising employment and incomes, interest rates that remain near historically low levels, and pent-up demand should contribute to positive momentum heading into next year."

Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pennsylvania was the most affordable major housing market.  Just under 90 percent of all new and existing homes sold in this year's third quarter were affordable to families earning the area's median income of $52,700. Other major U.S. housing markets at the top of the affordability chart in the third quarter included, in descending order, Syracuse, Indianapolis, Harrisburg-Carlisle, and Dayton.

The most affordable smaller markets were Cumberland, Maryland and Kokomo, Indiana, tied at 94.8 percent affordability.  The median income was $54,100 in Cumberland and $56,900 in Kokomo.  Other affordable smaller markets were Davenport, Iowa-Moline-Rock Island, Illinois; Mansfield, Ohio; and Springfield, Ohio. 

The least affordable major housing market for the eighth straight quarter was San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City where only 11.4 percent of homes sold in the third quarter were affordable to families earning the area's median income of $100,400.  Also near the bottom were three other California metro areas, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale. Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, and  San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara.  The New-York area was the fifth least affordable major market.

All five least affordable small housing markets were in California. At the very bottom was Napa, where 10.2 percent of all new and existing homes sold were affordable to families earning the area's median income of $70,300.  Other small markets included Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Salinas, Santa Rosa-Petaluma, and San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles.