By some measures, houses are still cheap

John W. Schoen Senior producer • Profile • E-mail

With the cost of a new house seeming to defy gravity, many would-be home buyers suffering from sticker shock are baffled by the relentless run-up in prices. The explanation may, however, be simple — houses have gotten bigger.

Twenty-five years ago, the average price of a new home in the U.S. was $76,400, according to the National Association of Home Builders. By last year, the price had shot up to $274,500.

But in 1980, the average home was 1,740 square feet, had three bedrooms or less, and two bathrooms or less, according to U.S. Census figures. About a quarter of the new houses you looked at in 1980 would have had no garage; a third would lack air conditioning.

Last year, the average new home buyer bought 2,349 square feet of living space, with at least three bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms, with a garage that held at least two cars. Some 90 percent included air conditioning.

Not only are today’s new houses packing more square footage, they have more volume -- nine-foot ceilings are becoming the norm. Today’s homebuyers are demanding separate rooms for media centers and home offices, spacious walk-in closets, and kitchens you’d expect to find in a restaurant. New houses today are built with higher-quality materials, from better finish and trim to granite countertops in the kitchen and bathroom. Buyers are demanding -- and getting -- central air, state-of-the-art security systems and broadband wiring for the Information Age. All of which is helping to push home prices higher.

There’s another major force driving up home prices: Rising wages and increased buying power continue to push prices higher, according to David Berson, economist at Fannie Mae.

“Home prices over the long run tend to grow — not at the rate of inflation — but instead at the rate of income growth,” he said. "Which, over time, is above the rate of inflation by usually about 1.5 to 2 percentage points."

And, even as wages have rising, falling mortgage rates have allowed home prices to go up even faster than income growth, said Berson. Compared to the average 1980-vintage mortgage —at 15 percent interest — the cost of buying a home is less than half what it was 25 years ago.

To be sure, there are still plenty of would-be homeowners who feel priced out of the housing market. But based on overall buying power and affordability, housing in the United States is as cheap as it's been in 25 years.

Take an average couple who have saved a year’s earnings to put down on their new average home. Last year, that down payment would have left them saddled with a $247,044 mortgage. But 25 years ago, a down payment of a year’s salary would be left the buyer of an average home with a mortgage of just $63,920.

Ah, the good old days. But take a closer look. Last year’s average home buyer financed their purchase with a 5.5 percent, 30-year fixed mortgage, leaving them with monthly payments of $1,403 — or about 2.7 paychecks of $528, the average weekly wage in 2004. But for our 1980 homebuyers, the $808 monthly payment on the average 30-year fixed mortgage — of 15 percent — would have burned through 3.4 paychecks, when weekly wages averaged $240.

In other words, after buying their house in 1980, Mr. and Mrs. Average Homebuyer were left with $54 a week (or about $123 in 2004 dollars) to pay for taxes, food, clothing, car payments — the works. By 2004, the family budget had $204 a week to spend after making the monthly mortgage payment.

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