And “America’s Most Affordable Big City” Is…

In this beloved city, today’s typical deed holder needs a yearly income of $60K to live comfortably.

Considering it’s a big city, this is a modest income. So this news is impressive. And so is the city itself. Frank Zappa even did a jazzy song about moving there, so you know there’s something to this.

If you do move there, your new neighbors will tell you… 

We Are Cleveland!

A city of fabulous culture and arts, libraries and transit… As long as you’re OK with cold winters, Cleveland, Ohio might just suit your style. And it’s a standout bargain. So says NAR — the National Association of REALTORS®.

U.S. home prices have risen 4% from last year, although home value appreciation is leveling off in many markets. In Newark, New Jersey, prices went up more than 11% year-to-year — the steepest climb of any large city.

It’s good to know that pockets of the U.S. market are still within reach for many working people. And it’s great to know that one of these pockets is the bustling metropolis of Cleveland.

NAR contrasts the options for home buyers in Cleveland with the situation of their peers in Irvine, California. The Irvine buyers need to earn $326,645 annually to stake out a comfortable life. More than a 5X difference!

NAR calls it the housing affordability gap. The trade group says households that earn $75K a year are very limited as to the areas of the market currently within their reach. Just over a fifth of the listings available would be financially accessible to them.  

This is why mapping real estate prices nationwide is so helpful — for graduates, job seekers, and others looking to buy a home.

Where Are the Most Accessible Markets? Mainly in the Midwest and the Southern States.

Across the nation, more and more homes are showing up for sale. Partly, this involves the “silver tide” of sellers. That’s the boomer generation, whose eldest members are turning 80, and are letting go of their homes.

Listings across the country are up 20% from last year. That’s a major change. And although it’s good news for hopeful buyers, it does not translate to across-the-board affordability, or anything close.

A lot of these new listings are showing up in Colorado, Utah, Florida, Arizona. And there’s one region looking especially good for buyers: the Midwest.

The Midwest is brimming with affordability, but only in contrast to the sky-high price tags in coastal states. Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois join Ohio in offering what agents call a balanced market. So does West Virginia. In all of these states, households earning $75K can afford to make an offer on close to half the current listings.

In broad terms, for the so-called balanced market, about half of all listings should be below the $255K range.

In 2025, a few other metro areas are gradually approaching that “balanced market” zone: Akron and Youngstown, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh. Austin, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Denver, Colorado have all added to their “affordable” listings — on average, 20%. Also getting closer to affordability are Columbus, Des Moines, and Grand Rapids, as well as Raleigh and Columbia in the Carolinas. NAR calls the availability of smaller homes a promising sign. First-time buyers want small homes, in decent shape.

Light at the End of a Very Long Tunnel?

NAR says even San Francisco is looking better. Listings there are actually dipping to pre-pandemic levels. And while Washington, D.C. is still extremely expensive, prices on listings are looking more like they did before the pandemic hit. These are two signs of light at the end of the tunnel for sidelined households struggling to buy. 

As for the coastal states more generally, the story is different. In most of California, as with Massachusetts, affordable housing is scant. Then there’s Hawaii, where real estate is shockingly expensive. Homes in Montana and Idaho, too, remain largely out of reach for most. According to NAR, today’s hardest markets to break into are New York, New York; Spokane, Washington; and the California cities of Los Angeles, Oxnard, and San Diego.

Since last year, the real estate market of Seattle, like D.C., can now claim to have increased the portion of homes considered affordable. Those homes are 4% more plentiful in both cities. At the same time, both cities continue to cope with monstrous affordability gaps. A household would need a whopping $150K in income to be approved for loans on half the DC or Seattle homes for sale.  

Weren’t Real Estate Pros Expecting Crowds of Summer Home Buyers? What Is Going On?

Now, with mortgage rates nudging 7%, would-be buyers remain hesitant, despite their stronger position in the market. Even where homes are becoming more affordable, people’s wages have stalled. In short, the real cost of homeownership is not hospitable to working people.

Home seekers earning $50K a year require homes priced at under $170K. This group of hopeful buyers is actually worse off than it was last year. NAR says they can afford to make offers on just 8.7% of the current U.S. home listings. Last year, 9.4% of the U.S. market was accessible to these households of modest means.

And there are many such households. They make up a third of the U.S. population, says NAR. So, in a balanced market, they would be able to shop for one in every three homes listed for sale. 

It’s in this expensive real estate context that mortgage rates remain elevated. The Berkshire Hathaway Home Services blog sees “a clear trend” taking shape: buyer demand follows the market swings. The blog elaborates:

With sky-high home prices, tariff-induced inflation fears and mortgage interest rates escalating, along with recent stock market losses, homebuyers are more cautious.

NAR economist Lawrence Yun said something that resonates with Berkshire Hathaway, too: buyers are “acutely sensitive to even minor fluctuations” in the prevailing mortgage rates. Hopeful buyers are see-sawing — buying or holding off in direct reaction to pieces of economic news.

Obsessed With Mortgage Rates? Hopeful Buyers Can’t Help It.

The average mortgage payment for a U.S. homebuyer is $2,209. This figure, of course, varies per market. The average payment in Ohio is just over $1,900.

Meanwhile, higher-income households don’t need to worry much. A salary of $250K means the ability to purchase at least four in every five listed U.S. homes.

As this map shows, that’s a small portion of the population.

Anyone else ready for a little Frank Zappa mood music?