Do you see the problem with this story?

Researchers examined the median home prices last year for roughly 575 U.S. counties and found that home prices in 99% of those areas are beyond the reach of the average income earner, who makes $71,214 a year, according to ATTOM.

Homes “unaffordable” in 99% of nation for average American – CBS News

1. First, numerous homes are not purchased by a single wage earner, but by two wage earners. 71% of buyers, per NAR, are couples, and 53% of all households have 2 incomes.
2. Second, they’ve compared the average income of a single wage earner to the median price of homes – a majority of which are owned by dual income households.
3. Third, average and median do not measure the same thing.
4. Fourth, the largest cohorts of home buyers, based on median incomes, earn between 85,000 and 125,000 per year (see this).

By definition, half of the homes are priced less than the median. Consequently, the headline is misleading – implying the average American cannot buy a home in 99% of communities, which is not true. The average single wage earner cannot buy the median priced home – but there are cheaper homes in every market, and half the home buyers have 2 incomes, not one income.

Home prices have risen (although over long periods of time, homes are mostly a hedge against inflation), and mortgage rates are now higher than recent years. In the early 1980s, mortgage rates exceeded 16% – we’ve been in worse situations in the past, but this context is omitted.

This error in story telling is a common one – see past posts on this and related subjects.

The reporter on the above story has a BS in journalism and political science, an an MA in Literary Reportage.