New research shows Philadelphia remains a city of homeowners but is less affordable than it’s historically been — over the last few years but also over the past two decades — even as the number of homeowners remained virtually unchanged. “The affordability of the city’s market is changing. It’s absolutely changing,” said Octavia Howell, a manager with the Philadelphia Research and Policy Initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts. While the median sale price for an entry-level home decreased between 2021 and 2023, the median monthly mortgage payment for those homes increased as a result of higher interest rates, according to a report Pew released. In 2021, the median mortgage payment was $944. Two years later, the total had risen by nearly a third, to $1,213. The jump is part of a broader trend that has made Philadelphia a tougher place to buy a home, particularly for people with low and moderate incomes. Read more here.
Source: Plan Philly; 7/24/2024