Despite plenty of available homes for sale at high prices, low- and middle-income homebuyers in the Philadelphia metro area are currently facing a shortage of affordable homes, writes Michaelle Bond for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Ongoing high housing costs and the scarcity of available homes continues to present budget challenges for many prospective buyers, and it’s likely keeping some buyers in the rental market or on the sidelines and delaying their purchase until conditions improve,” said Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist.

In April, thousands of home listings that would be affordable to households making from $15,000 to $250,000 were not advertised in the Philadelphia metro area. The largest shortage was for households making $50,000 where 3,440 affordable listings were just not to be found.

Households making $35,000 saw a deficit of 3,059 listings, while those making $75,000 found 2,912 listings were out of their price range.

Even households that are making $100,000 were unable to afford half the listings on the market.

“Middle-income buyers face the largest shortage of homes among all income groups, making it even harder for them to build wealth through home ownership,” said Nadia Evangelou, of the National Association of Realtors.

Read more about the issue in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The reality of the 2023 Pennsylvania housing market.