Home affordability is out of the question on typical homes in 80% of the U.S.'s 589 counties, a new report from ATTOM concluded. "In more than a third of the markets analyzed, major expenses consumed at least 43% of average local wages, a benchmark considered seriously unaffordable," the report stated.

That is based on the standard lending guideline that the amount of income needed to buy a median-priced single-family home should take no more than 28% of the average national wage. Instead, the report found the cost of home ownership took up 35.1% of the average national wage in 2Q2024 – the highest level since 2007.

"Major home ownership expenses on typical homes sold in the second quarter of 2024 required an annual income of $90,598 to be affordable, which was 25.2% more than the latest average national wage of $72,358," the report noted. That was true in 58.2% of the national markets studied. Yet average wages exceeded the average in only 11.9% of the counties analyzed.