If you thought houses couldn’t become any more unaffordable, think again: Homes are now less affordable than ever in 99% of America’s counties.
As the country hit a new record high median house price of $375,000 in the third quarter of 2025, according to the ATTOM analytics firm, affordability woes grew ever worse. Of the 580 counties in ATTOM’s analysis, nearly half had worse affordability index ratings in the third quarter than in the second.
In all, median-priced single family houses and apartments were less affordable than historical averages in 99% of the counties with sufficient data to analyze in the quarter.
In 460 of the 580 counties (79%) in ATTOM’s analysis, home ownership expenses exceeded 28% of a typical resident’s wages, making owning a home unaffordable by standard guidelines. Those counties encompass some of the nation’s largest cities, including Los Angles, Chicago, Brooklyn, and Queens.
The national median home price of $375,000 in the third quarter of 2025 was 2.0% higher than the previous quarter and 4.8% higher than the same time last year.
But median home prices rose year-over-year in the third quarter in 438 counties, according to ATTOM’s analysis. The report includes counties with a population of at least 100,000 and at least 50 single-family home and condo sales.
Moreover, prices rose faster than the typical resident’s wages in about half (289) of the 580 counties in the report. That was up from last quarter, when home prices outstripped wage growth in only 35% of the counties.
In a dash of good news, mortgage rates are inching downward, a move that should ease affordability issues. “The drop in mortgage rates will help some buyers keep pace with the rising cost of homes,” said ATTOM CEO Rob Barber.
But Barber also pointed out that more favorable loan costs could push prices higher, further extending a “two-and-a-half-year streak” in which houses became less and less affordable to the typical resident than they historically have been.
ATTOM determines affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to meet major monthly home ownership expenses — including mortgage payments, mortgage insurance, property taxes, and homeowner’s insurance — on a median-priced single-family home and condo.
The analysis assumes a 20% down payment and a 28% maximum “front-end” debt-to-income ratio.
Nationwide, the typical monthly cost of housing expenses was $2,123 in the third quarter. That’s essentially the same as the previous quarter but up 6% from the same time last year.
Those expenses on the median single-family home and condos would have consumed 33.3% of the typical American’s wages in the third quarter of 2025. That was up slightly from 33.2% in the previous quarter and 32.2% at the same time last year.
In slightly more than a third (199) of the counties, though, expenses on a median-priced house exceeded 43% of typical wages, a benchmark ATTOM says is “considered seriously unaffordable.”
