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79 September 2025 J O U R N A L themortgagepoint.com September 2025 » ines affordability gaps in five diverse U.S. metro areas, illustrating that even occu- pations requiring advanced education and training are increasingly unable to afford rent or homeownership. The report offers case studies of five theoretical workplaces in Asheville, North Carolina; Boise City, Idaho; Houston, Texas; Tampa, Florida; and Seattle, Wash- ington. These include a construction site, middle school, auto shop, law firm, and dental office—representative of the broad cross-section of American labor. "The five MSAs examined in this report represent vastly different markets. Yet, unaffordability is a strong and debili- tating common factor throughout the U.S. Housing groups have long warned that without increasing supply, hous- ing will only become more expensive. In order to afford fairly priced rentals and typically priced homes, working households simply do not earn enough income to keep up," said the report. Among the findings: Asheville, North Carolina: Half of construction site workers now earn less than the $59,840 needed to rent a one-bedroom apartment. Civil engineers earning nearly $100,000 still fall short of homeownership. Boise, Idaho: Home prices increased by over 60% in just five years. A middle school staff saw teachers, librarians, and counselors priced out of two-bedroom rental units by 2023, with librarians still unable to afford rent in 2024. Houston, Texas: Despite high rates of homebuilding, only 28 of 286 occupa- tions can afford to purchase a home with 10% down in 2024. Order Clerks and Customer Service Representatives can- not afford even a one-bedroom rental. Seattle, Washington: Not a single occupation tracked could afford to buy a home in 2024, including dentists earning in excess of $200,000. Only 50 out of 285 occupations can afford a two-bedroom rental. Tampa, Florida: Only 11 of 284 occu- pations can afford to buy a home. Legal Assistants, earning $62,420, cannot af- ford rent for a one-bedroom apartment. "This is no longer a problem we can frame as affecting only certain groups or regions. From big cities to small towns, Americans who work hard, earn solid incomes, and contribute to their commu- nities are finding that neither renting nor buying is within reach," Dworkin added. "If we don't address the supply shortage, reform zoning, and invest in housing at all income levels, we are facing a fundamental threat to the health and sustainability of our economy." HOMEOWNER POPULATION LEVELS OFF FOR FIRST TIME IN NEARLY A DECADE N ew data by Redfin reveals that the number of homeowner households in America fell 0.1% year-over-year to an estimated 86.2 million in Q2 2025, as the number of renter households rose 2.6% to an esti- mated 46.4 million—one of the largest increases in recent years. Redfin based its analysis on U.S. Census Bureau data, defining a renter household as one where the head of the household reports to the Census that they are renting out the property, while a homeowner household is one where the head of household reports they own the property. "America's homeowner population is no longer growing because rising home prices, high mortgage rates, and economic uncertainty have made it in- creasingly difficult to own a home," said Chen Zhao, Redfin's Head of Economics Research. "People are also getting mar- ried and starting families later, which means they're buying homes later—an- other factor that may be at play." The median home sale price rose 1.4% year-over-year in July to $443,867— the highest July level on record. And mortgage rates currently sit at 6.56%, more than double the all-time low recorded during the pandemic. As a result, more Americans have opted to keep renting rather than buying a home, meaning more people are forgoing home equity—a key way to build wealth. And with mortgage rates having be- gun to slide in recent weeks, down from a peak of over 7% at the start of the year, many are only just now beginning to emerge from the shadows and jump into the American dream of homeownership. Despite the number of homeown- ers nationwide having fallen recently, the homeownership rate has remained steady, coming in at 65% as of the second quarter of 2025, down slightly from 65.6% a year earlier. The rate of renters was 35%, up slightly from 34.4% a year earlier. Except for Rochester, New York, and Cleveland, Ohio, the greatest gains in homeownership were found predom- inantly in the southern portion of the U.S. Redfin analyzed the nation's 75 larg- est metropolitan areas, and found the Q2 homeownership rate was the highest in the following markets: • North Port, Florida 79.5% • Baton Rouge, Louisiana 78.6% • Charleston, South Carolina 76.9% • Cape Coral, Florida 74.0% • Albuquerque, New Mexico 73.5% • Rochester, New York 73.0% • Indianapolis, Indiana 72.1% • Tucson, Arizona 72.0% • Virginia Beach, Virginia 71.5% • Cleveland, Ohio 71.7% Major metros continue to price peo- ple out of pursuing the American dream; rentership rates in some of the largest cities dominated the top 10 list. Redfin found the Q2 rentership rate was the highest in the following markets: • Los Angeles, California 53.6% • New York, New York 50.6% • San Diego, California 48.3% • Las Vegas, Nevada 47.7% • San Jose, California 46.1% • San Francisco, California 46.0% • Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 44.1% • Austin, Texas 43.1% • Miami, Florida 42.5% • Honolulu, Hawaii 41.7% • Denver, Colorado 41.0%