If you're looking to get the most house for your money, then you should head to the heartland -- specifically Indiana and Illinois, home to the six most affordable metropolitan areas in the United States, according to the National Association of Homebuilder's "Housing Opportunity Index" for the second quarter of 2001.

The index measures the percentage of homes sold that a family earning the median income can afford to buy.

Kokomo, Indiana, was crowned the most affordable market in the country during the second quarter of 2001. Some 94 percent of the homes in that area are affordable for the family earning a median income of $57,600. Kokomo was followed by Springfield, Rockford, Muncie, Elkhart-Goshen, and the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island region as the most affordable.

Meanwhile, if you head west to California, you'll find nine of the country's 10 most expensive markets.

Once again, San Francisco bottomed out, maintaining its "least affordable" title. With a median sales price of $530,000, only 6.7 percent of homes sold in the second quarter were affordable for the median family income of $80,100.

Seven other California regions make up the country's eight most expensive markets -- Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Jose, Salinas, the San Luis Obispo region, the Napa-Vallejo region, Oakland, and San Diego.

Nationwide, affordability rose to its best level in more than a year, according to NAHB, which says lower interest rates on home mortgages helped boost the affordability of the nation's housing.

"Families earning the median U.S. income of $53,500 could afford to purchase 63.4 percent of homes sold nationwide in the second quarter," said Bruce Smith, NAHB president and a homebuilder from Walnut Creek, Calif.

And to what can Smith's home state's deficit of affordable housing be attributed?

Primarily, the need isn't being met, according to the California Building Industry Association -- the statewide arm of the NAHB. Builders are unable to meet the demand because of excessive litigation that has stifled the production of condominiums, land use restrictions, and opposition to building new housing in existing communities.

The California Department of Finance says that housing production is at only half of what it should be to keep up with the state's population. The demand has sent costs soaring.

"Another major fact is that governments often impose tens of thousands of dollars in excessive fees for each house built," said CBIA chief executive officer Robert Rivinius. "In Danville -- located in the eighth least-affordable region of the nation -- these fees total more than $64,000 on a typical home. It's no wonder that homeownership is out of reach," he said.

Meanwhile, the New Jersey region consisting of Vineland, Millville and Bridgeton, was the most affordable region in the Northeast. The median sales price of $87,000 was affordable to 88 percent of the households there.

Syracuse, New York; Lancaster, Penn.; the region consisting of Harrisburg, Lebanon and Carlisle; and Glen Falls, New York, rounded out the top five spots on the Northeast's affordability list.

The honors for the least affordable market in the Northeast went to Portsmouth-Rochester in New Hampshire and Maine. Just 24 percent of homes there were affordable to households with a median-income budget.

Wilmington-Newark in Delaware -- below the Mason-Dixon line and just a few minutes from the great northern city of Philadelphia -- was the "South's" most affordable market. Some 87 percent of the houses sold there were affordable considering the median price of $144,000.

In the South, Tallahassee, Lakeland-Winter Haven, and Melbourne, Titusville, and Palm Bay, all in Florida, took the next three most affordable spots.

In Laredo, Texas, only 38 percent of households earning the median income of $32,000 can afford to buy a $112,00 home - the median price in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, if you're bound and determined to live in the West, but don't have the cash to buy a home in the nation's eight most expensive markets, then you should head to Anchorage, where 77 percent of the houses sold were affordable for the median-income. A median-priced home there costs $147,000.

If you want to stay in California, then your best bet is Bakersfield, where the median-priced home is $104,000 - 77 percent of the homes there are in reach for the median-income households.

And if you want to live in the heartland but Kokomo and its affordable neighbors aren't your cup of tea, then you may want to head to Chicago or Michigan -- home to six of the most expensive markets in the Midwest. In Ann Arbor, 56 percent of the homes sold were affordable to the median-income family.

For more articles by Michele Dawson, please press here,

Published: November 13, 2001

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.