Housing Affordability Index
Fuses rates + prices + incomes into one number. 100 = median family can just afford median home.
- source
- FRED
- frequency
- monthly
- units
- index
- s.a.
- no
Note: FRED only retains the trailing 13 months per NAR's data agreement. Pull history elsewhere if needed.
Reads 105.4, up 1.7 from August but 1.9 points (1.77%) below a year ago, and still above the 100 line where the median family just qualifies for the median home. The index slid from 116.5 in February to 101.4 in June, then recovered four points over three straight monthly gains, leaving it 11.1 points short of where the year started. That's roughly a 5% cushion over the qualifying line, and since rates, prices, and incomes all feed the number, a rate bump can erase it fast, so watch whether the rebound holds before you underwrite demand off it. The series isn't seasonally adjusted and FRED keeps only 13 months, so archive each print yourself if you want a longer baseline.
"""
Housing Affordability Index — Fuses rates + prices + incomes into one number. 100 = median family can just afford median home.
Freq: monthly · Source: FRED
"""
from fredapi import Fred
fred = Fred(api_key="YOUR_FRED_API_KEY")
series = fred.get_series("FIXHAI")
print(series.tail())You are analyzing FRED series FIXHAI — Housing Affordability Index (Fixed). Context: Fuses rates + prices + incomes into one number. 100 = median family can just afford median home. Attributes - Units: index - Frequency: monthly - Source: FRED Latest observation: 105.4 as of 2026-09-01 Year-over-year change: -1.77% Analyze this metric for a tech-forward real estate investor with 1–3 properties. What is it signaling right now? What should I watch next?