Demographia United States Housing Affordability, 2021 Edition

The Urban Reform Institute is pleased to present the 2021 edition of Demographia United States Housing Affordability. This report provides housing affordability ratings, using the median multi-ple, a measurement of income in relation to housing prices, or 188 major markets (metropolitan areas) for the third quarter of 2020.

It is not surprising that housing affordability — given the large influx of new buyers, particularly in suburban and outlying areas — has continued to deteriorate. As a result, many low-income and middle-income households who already have suffered the worst consequences from housing inflation will see their standards of living further decline.

The affordability issue is particularly critical due to the strong increase in remote working (tele-work) during and after the pandemic, which is accelerating the movement to more affordable places. It will likely also help flatten or even reduce prices in the highest cost housing markets as other households seek less costly housing elsewhere.

We hope that the losses sustained during the pandemic will be quickly reversed and the increas-ing inequality attributable to higher house prices will become a thing of the past.
Wendell Cox is the author, having previously co-authored the annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey, with Hugh Pavletich of Performance Urban Planning. Cox is a senior fellow at the Urban Reform Institute.

Charles Blain
President, Urban Reform Institute

View or download the full report here (3.4MB PDF opens in new tab or window).