{"id":3703,"date":"2021-08-11T05:00:28","date_gmt":"2021-08-11T10:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nwiloanguy.com\/blog\/are-houses-less-affordable-than-they-were-in-past-decades\/"},"modified":"2023-01-04T12:48:56","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T18:48:56","slug":"are-houses-less-affordable-than-they-were-in-past-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nwiloanguy.com\/blog\/are-houses-less-affordable-than-they-were-in-past-decades\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Houses Less Affordable Than They Were in Past Decades?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Are<\/p>\n

There are many headlines about how housing affordability is declining. The headlines are correct: it\u2019s less affordable to purchase a home today than it was a year ago. However, it\u2019s important to give this trend context. Is it less expensive to buy a house today than it was in 2005? What about 1995? What happens if we go all the way back to 1985? Or even 1975?<\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously, the price of a home has appreciated dramatically over the last 45 years. So have the prices of milk, bread, and just about every other consumable. Prices rise over time<\/em> \u2013 we know it as inflation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

However, when we look at housing, price<\/strong> is just one component that makes up the monthly cost<\/strong> of the home. Another key factor is the mortgage rate at the time of purchase.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look back at the cost<\/strong> of a home over the last five decades and adjust it for inflation by converting that cost to 2021 dollars. Here\u2019s the methodology for each data point of the table below:<\/p>\n