Record home prices and higher mortgage rates in May made it the most expensive month since 2006 to buy a home, prompting more buyers to give up and pressuring sellers to cut asking prices.
The National Association of Realtors’ housing-affordability index fell to 102.5 in May, the association said Friday, the lowest level since the index fell to 100.5 in July 2006. It was close to the lowest level since July 1990, when the index stood at 100.2. The affordability index incorporates median existing-home prices, median family incomes and average mortgage rates.
