Short answer. The U.S. home-price-to-income ratio reached 5.4× in 2024 — the highest reading on record. The 56-year average is ~3.2×; the 2005 cycle peak was 4.2×.
Price-to-income is the cleanest single measure of U.S. housing affordability. It's computed as median existing-home price / median U.S. household income.
Selected readings
- 1985: 2.4× (most affordable)
- 1990: 2.9×
- 2000: 3.1×
- 2005: 4.2× (subprime cycle peak)
- 2011: 3.0× (post-crash low)
- 2019: 3.9×
- 2021: 5.1×
- 2024: 5.4× (all-time high)
Why it matters
Historically, when price-to-income exceeds 4×, either incomes need to grow into prices (long, slow process) or prices need to compress (faster, painful process). The 2005 cycle resolved through compression — prices fell 24% over four years. The 2007 nominal peak in median prices took until 2014 to recover.
The international comparison
The U.S. 5.4× ratio is high by U.S. historical standards but moderate internationally. Comparable readings: UK ~7.0×, Australia ~7.5×, Canada ~6.5×, Hong Kong ~14×, New Zealand ~6.8×. Affordability stress is now a global rich-country phenomenon, not a uniquely U.S. one.
Sources
U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Construction; National Association of Realtors Existing Home Sales report; Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey; National Bureau of Economic Research Business Cycle Dating Committee.