Report reveals housing affordability at record low

According to Redfin's report, the affordability crisis intensified in 2022, with the percentage of homes for sale that were affordable for the typical household dropping to one in five - the lowest share on record. Mortgage rates doubled from their 2021 all-time low of 2.65%, which made listings hitting the market less affordable. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic homebuying boom caused home prices to surge and there were fewer new home listings than in any month on record aside from April 2020. The report also revealed that White households can afford three times as many homes as Black households and that pandemic boomtowns and expensive costal cities saw the largest declines in the number of affordable homes. In response to the affordability crisis, the Biden administration announced it would cut mortgage-insurance rates for homebuyers taking out loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. Redfin's Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr said that while the affordability crisis is currently at its worst, it could improve as mortgage rates come down and home prices begin to fall.