The metro areas of Indianapolis-Carmel and Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa., tied for the nation's top major affordable U.S. housing market in 2007's first quarter according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). Indianapolis is at the top of the U.S. metro markets with populations above 500,000 for the seventh quarter in a row. Both top metro markets are in the Midwest as are 14 others out of the top 20 metro markets with populations above and below 500,000. Of the least affordable markets, California claims 17 of the 20 metro markets with populations above and below 500,000.

"The latest HOI shows that about 44 percent of new and existing homes that were sold in the United States during this year's first quarter were affordable to families earning the national median income," said NAHB President Brian Catalde in a released statement. "This is up from 41.6 percent of homes sold in the final quarter of 2006, and is likely the result of lower house prices as well as the very favorable financing conditions that existed at the beginning of this year."

According to the HOI, 89 percent of new and existing homes sold in the first quarter in Indianapolis cost an average of $116,000; the median family income there is $63,800. In contrast, in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Irvine, Ca. area, only three percent of homes sold were affordable to families earning the median income of $61,700; the median sales price for a home in the Los Angeles area is $525,000.

The Los Angeles region landed at the bottom of the list for the ninth quarter in a row. Since the first quarter of 1991, a California city has been the least affordable metro area to live; San Francisco set the standard, spending 43 quarters at the bottom of the HOI (42 times in a row from the first quarter of 1991 to the second quarter of 2001).

Most and Least Affordable U.S. Markets

Areas with Population of 500,000 or more in 2006

10 Most Affordable Metro Areas:

  • Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA
  • Indianapolis-Carmel, IN
  • Dayton, OH
  • Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, MI
  • Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI
  • Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY
  • Syracuse, NY
  • Toledo, OH
  • Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
  • Rochester, NY

10 Least Affordable Metro Areas:

  • Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA
  • Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA
  • New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ
  • San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA
  • Modesto, CA
  • San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
  • Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
  • Stockton, CA
  • Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL
  • Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA

Areas with Population under 500,000 in 2006

10 Most Affordable Metro Areas:

10 Least Affordable Metro Areas:

  • Salinas, CA
  • Merced, CA
  • Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, CA
  • Napa, CA
  • San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA
  • Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA
  • El Centro, CA
  • Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA
  • Visalia-Porterville, CA
  • Bend, OR

Learn more about markets featured in this article: Youngstown, OH, Los Angeles, CA, Indianapolis, IN, Oxnard, CA, San Diego, CA, San Luis Obispo, CA, Santa Cruz, CA, Riverside, CA, Santa Rosa, CA, Napa, CA, Miami, FL, San Francisco, CA.