The City With The Largest Jump In Unaffordability Will Shock You

New data from real estate technology company OJO Labs reported that Boise, ID reported the largest jump in unaffordability next to the 10 most unaffordable metro areas in the U.S. 

“The median home sold price in Boise reached $465,000 in October, a month-over-month increase of 3.3% and a year-over-year increase of 27.4%. When you factor in the rise in median household income, Boise — the nation’s fifth most unaffordable metro in October — actually outpaced San Francisco, Monterey, Los Angeles, and San Diego in terms of unaffordability score growth,” according to Patrick Kearns, OJO Labs' director of storytelling.

OJO Labs finds its unaffordability by dividing the median home sold price by the median household income. The unaffordability score increased by 20.9% year-over-year in Oct., according to the report. That's compared to 19.9% for the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose metropolitan area which happened to be the second-highest year-over-year increase of the top 10 most unaffordable metros.

“The unaffordability score, on a national level, increased slightly from September to October and annual growth also accelerated from September to October, signaling that a potential deceleration in home prices is still far off and any small changes are likely due to seasonality,” according to Kearns.

“On an annual basis, the unaffordability score increased 11.8% year-over-year meaning it was much harder to afford a home in October 2021 than in October 2020 across the United States — due largely in part to a 16.3% year-over-year increase in median home price.”