An Arizona home.An average wage earner in Pima County, can probably afford a median-priced house in the area, real estate data company's analysis reported Thursday.
A middle-priced house in the local market runs around $175,000. If a middle-earner spends 30.8 percent of income on housing, that would cover the typical mortgage on that house, RealtyTrac reported.
Spending that percentage of personal income on a house falls below what is considered the normal threshold for affordability.
“The rule of thumb is right around a third of your income is where you’d want to be to be comfortable,” said RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist.
A housing market is considered unaffordable when what's paid for housing exceeds 43 percent of total income.
Affordability can be a positive sign for a housing market.
"Especially when you see rising home prices and you also see wage growth that is on par with the home prices,” Blomquist said.
The report estimated local home prices have gone up by 3 percent in the last year, while wages have grown by 4 percent.
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