{"id":35,"date":"2026-09-28T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.annetteshelton.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/28\/u-s-housing-affordability-hits-a-breaking-point\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T13:00:00","slug":"u-s-housing-affordability-hits-a-breaking-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.annetteshelton.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/28\/u-s-housing-affordability-hits-a-breaking-point\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Housing Affordability Hits a Breaking Point"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"video-zmyer\">\n<div class=\"video-frame-zmyer\">\n        <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/www.roomvu.com\/agent\/embed\/annette-shelton\/harvard-housing-affordability-remotion-videos-2322\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><br \/>\n        <\/iframe>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"video-description-zmyer\">\n<p>Navigating the housing market in 2026 has become increasingly challenging for many, as affordability reaches new limits nationwide. Recent data shows existing home sales remain sluggish, while new-home sales are steady and rental retention is on the rise. With median prices for both new and existing homes now over $400K and mortgage rates holding above 6%, the cost of buying a home has put real pressure on prospective buyers. Payments for a median-priced home in late 2025 were projected around $3,100 per month, requiring an income of more than $120,000\u2014a steep climb compared to just a few years ago. Since 2020, existing-home prices have grown to nearly five times the median income. Meanwhile, affordable rental options have become even scarcer, with 7 million fewer units renting for under $1,000 and 11 million lowest-income renters competing for only 3.8 million affordable units nationwide. While state, local, and federal programs have worked to expand housing production and ease regulations, it\u2019s clear that more support is needed to keep homeownership and quality rental options within reach. Having helped clients navigate Chicagoland\u2019s unique neighborhoods through changing markets, I know how critical expert guidance can be in times like these.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Navigating the housing market in 2026 has become increasingly challenging for many, as affordability reaches new limits nationwide. Recent data shows existing home sales remain sluggish, while new-home sales are steady and rental retention is on the rise. With median prices for both new and existing homes now over $400K and mortgage rates holding above [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":36,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annetteshelton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annetteshelton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annetteshelton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annetteshelton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.annetteshelton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annetteshelton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annetteshelton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annetteshelton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annetteshelton.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}