How I See The Market

More people can afford a house today than in at least five years, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index.

A family earning the national median income of $61,500 a year would be able to buy more than 60 percent of all homes sold in the last three months of 2008 by committing less than 28 percent of their total income toward paying the mortgage, the report found.

That figure is up 56.1 percent from the third quarter of 2008 and up 46.6 percent from what it was at the end of 2007.

According to the Index, the most affordable cities and their median prices are:

1. Indianapolis, Ind., $103,000
2. Warren, Mich. $125,000
3. Youngstown, Ohio, $73,000
4. Detroit, Mich., $90,000
5. Grand Rapids, Mich. $102,000
6. Syracuse, N.Y., $88,000
7. Dayton, Ohio, $90,000
8. Akron, Ohio, $90,000
9. Cleveland, Ohio, $100,000
10. Scranton, Pa., $85,000
11. Waynesville, MO $75,000
12. St. Robert, MO $72,000
13. Dixon, MO $60,000