Unaffordable Housing , Taxation , and Consumer Debt Trends
By Rick Tobin
The purchasing power of the dollar continues to rapidly decline , sadly . This weakening dollar trend hasn ’ t just happened in recent years . Rather , it ’ s been going on since the formation of the Federal Reserve back in 1913 . One dollar in 1913 now has the equivalent purchasing power of about 2 cents today .
Yet , the purchasing power has rapidly decreased at a seemingly accelerated pace since 2020 when the worldwide pandemic declaration began .
As per a home unaffordability study shared by Redfin and Visual Capitalist on April 4 , 2024 , an “ unaffordable ” home is defined as a new listing with a monthly mortgage payment that is no more than 30 % of the median monthly income in its county .
Here are the findings from this unaffordability report :
●Only 16 % of U . S . homes for sale were affordable in 2023 , which was an alltime record low .
●By comparison in 2021 , 39 % of listed properties were considered affordable .
●With just 0.3 % of home listings deemed affordable , Los Angeles has the lowest share of affordable listings in America . ●By contrast , Detroit had the highest share of affordable listings with over 51 % of homes .
Let ’ s take a look at how the unaffordable housing numbers have rapidly fallen over the past 10 years :
2023 16 % 2022 21 % 2021 39 % 2020 45 % 2019 40 % 2018 37 % 2017 42 % 2016 45 % 2015 45 % 2014 46 % 2013 50 %
Source : Redfin and Virtual Capitalist
An “ unaffordable ” home is defined as a new listing with a monthly mortgage payment that is no more than 30 % of the median monthly income in its county .
Visual Capitalist
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