Housing Affordability - /contrib/housing_affordability

America's housing shortage is a key reason why the benchmark 30-year mortgage rate likely will top 7%, according strategists at BofA Global.

Homeowners beware. But don't panic, either.

The cost of renting a home in the United States is surging and young workers have felt the sharpest pain, many of them taking on additional jobs or roommates to afford housing costs.

It now takes 35.51% of the median household income to make a principal and interest payment on the average home.

Many 20- and 30-somethings are finding it difficult to live in expensive cities, even if the opportunities and nightlife are still there.

Report lays bare the entrenched severity of housing costs in the country's two largest cities that not even a short-term improvement can resolve.