The Truth About Home Affordability Today
If you’ve been watching mortgage rates climb and wondering whether buying a home is still realistic, you’re asking exactly the right question. And you deserve a straight answer, not a headline designed to make you panic or a sales pitch designed to make you act before you’re ready.
Here’s the full picture. The good, the challenging, and what it actually means for your move.
Affordability Is More Than Just the Mortgage Rate
Rates get all the attention. But affordability is a three-legged stool: mortgage rates, home prices, and your income. Right now, two of those three legs are working in your favor. That’s a more encouraging picture than most people realize, and it’s worth understanding before you make any decisions about waiting or moving forward.
Yes, Mortgage Rates Have Been Rising. Here’s Why.
After trending down through most of 2025, rates have climbed back up. Global uncertainty, ongoing tensions in the Middle East, and inflation that hasn’t fully cooled are all pushing rates higher. The connection is direct: when uncertainty is high, bond yields rise, and mortgage rates follow. Mortgage News Daily tracks this in real time and the recent volatility is hard to miss when you look at the chart.
So should you wait for rates to drop? Possibly, but there’s no guarantee on the timing or the magnitude. Most experts believe rates will settle somewhere in the low to mid-6s when conditions improve, not dramatically lower. And in the meantime, home prices aren’t sitting still either. Waiting for the perfect rate while prices creep upward isn’t always the winning move it feels like. We looked at this in detail in our Mid-Year Housing Market Reality Check if you want the broader context.
Wages Are Actually Outpacing Home Prices Right Now
Here’s the part that almost never makes the news. Wages have been growing faster than home prices. Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Wage Growth Tracker shows wages increasing at roughly 4% year-over-year, while home price growth is running closer to 2% according to Redfin. That gap matters. When your income rises faster than prices, your buying power quietly improves even when rates feel uncomfortable. It’s a slow but real shift in the affordability equation, and it’s happening right now.
Home Prices Have Been Remarkably Stable
Look at the NAR’s existing home sales data over the past four years and you’ll find something that surprises most people: no dramatic runup, and no crash. Existing home prices have held steady with slow, measured growth. Part of what’s keeping prices from spiking is that buyers finally have more options to choose from. More inventory means less frantic bidding, more negotiating room, and more time to find a home that actually fits your life and your budget. If you’ve been wondering whether a price crash is coming, our post Are Home Prices Going To Fall? walks through the data behind why most experts say no.
More Inventory Means More Leverage for You
The increase in homes for sale is genuinely good news for buyers. A year ago, if you found something you liked you had to move fast and often overpay. Today, you have breathing room. You can negotiate. You can ask for concessions. You can take the time to make a careful decision without losing to ten competing offers. That shift in leverage is a form of affordability that doesn’t show up in any rate chart, but it’s very real. For a closer look at what’s hitting the market right now, see More Options Are Popping Up This Spring.
What This Means for You in South Jersey and the Philadelphia Suburbs
The national affordability picture is one thing. What’s happening in Camden County, Collingswood, Haddon Township, and the surrounding communities is what actually matters for your specific decision. Our local market has its own price trends, inventory dynamics, and buyer activity that don’t always move in lockstep with national data. For a ground-level view of what’s driving home values here, check out our South Jersey Real Estate Market Update 2026.
The honest summary is this: rates are a headwind, but wages are improving and prices are stable. If you can afford to buy at today’s rates, the math is more favorable than the headlines suggest. If you’re not quite there yet, knowing exactly what it will take to get there is the most valuable thing you can do right now.
Either way, the conversation starts with your specific numbers, not a national average.
Reach out to the MH Global team. Let’s look at what’s actually possible for your situation.
