by Calculated Risk on 9/12/2007 10:55:00 AM
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Housing Costs as Percent of Paychecks
From the NY Times: Housing Costs Consumed More of Paychecks in 2006
Housing costs ate up more of the monthly paycheck for millions of Americans in 2006 than the year before, despite signs of a slowdown in the housing market, according to figures made public today by the Census Bureau.
Nationally, half of renters and more than one third of mortgage holders — 37 percent, up from 35 percent in 2005, or a rise of more than 1.5 million households — spent at least 30 percent of their gross income on housing costs, the level many government agencies consider the limit of affordability.