Real Estate

First-Time Homebuyer Affordability in U.S. Is Worst in Three Years

  • Single-family median purchase price jumps 14.6% to $361,700
  • Rising mortgage rates also taking a toll, Realtors group says
A prospective home buyer looks out the master bedroom window at a house for sale in Dunlap, Illinois.Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
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It’s getting harder to afford a home in the U.S.

For first-time buyers, mortgage payments jumped to 25.6% of household incomes in the fourth quarter, the worst affordability level in three years, according to the National Association of Realtors. The share was 22.4% a year earlier.