Housing Affordability Is Improving in These 11 Places

• The income needed to afford the typical U.S. home has fallen year over year in almost a dozen major metros, most of which are Sun Belt boomtowns that have seen a drop in home prices amid surging inventory.

• Nationwide, the typical homebuyer needs to earn $112,131 per year to afford the median priced home—roughly $25,000 more than the typical household makes.

Homebuyers need to earn $112,131 per year to afford the $447,035 median priced U.S. home, little changed (+0.5%) from a year ago. But in 11 of the 50 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas, the income needed to afford a home has declined.

In Oakland, CA, homebuyers need to earn $244,073 to afford the typical home. While that’s high compared to most places, it’s down 4.6% year over year—the largest decline among the…