Stubborn house prices and elevated mortgage rates continued to weigh on prospective homebuyers in the third quarter of 2025.

According to a recent report from Oxford Economics, despite some moderation in recent quarters, housing affordability in the U.S. remains "considerably worse than five years ago." The researchers found that the median household income needed to afford a single-family home now stands at $110,100, down 2.3 percent from its peak in the first quarter, but almost double the $58,400 required in same quarter of 2020.

Why It Matters

Chronic supply shortages and homeowners "locking in" during the low-mortgage pandemic era, among several other factors, have contributed to high house prices in recent years, an element of the wider affordability issues—to some a crisis—swee

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