Increase in wage can’t keep up with increase in housing

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - According to a report by Brian Kidder from MyEListing.com, the wage increase in Arizona cannot keep up with the increase in housing prices.

Arizona’s housing price versus the wage gap is almost 38% which according to myelsiting.com ranks second worst in the nation.

A local realtor was able to how this has affected her business.

“There is less buyers but the buyers of today are completely different than the buyers of even last year or five years ago um what I’m seeing more now is home buyers that have more in savings or equity in their homes,” said Kassandra Carrazco, a realtor from The Realty Agency.

According to this same data, there is close to a $150,000 gap between the wage and housing price increase in Arizona.

The report states the wage increase in Arizona is close to only $13,000, while the housing price increase is more than $160,000.

A local senior loan officer says there are other factors that could be causing a decrease in home buyers.

“I think it’s more people have more debt than they normally should and I say normally should from our guidelines they have to be a certain percentage of what you owe versus what you make so they tend to be more heavy on the debt side,” said Bill Craft, a senior loan officer at Academy Mortgage.

Meanwhile, California is ranked 30th having a housing versus wage gap percentage of over 14%.

Carrazco also has some advice on how to navigate the housing market if you’re looking to buy a home.

“If you are in the position to buy even if it's not your dream home you know it’s better to invest in something that’s going to grow rather than continue renting and never see a return on whatever that monthly payment is,” said Carrazco.

According to myelisting.com, this information is meant to show that the goal of affordable housing remains an important issue for many Americans, especially in Arizona.