Latest / Wages and Prices with Fexingo: Cost of Living, Pay Raises, and Workers' Purchasing Power
How a Worker's Raise Is Finally Beating the Cost of a Mortgage
With mortgage rates still elevated and home prices near all-time highs, it's easy to assume that homeownership is more out of reach than ever. But Lucas and Luna dig into the data: average hourly earnings have climbed 7.2% over the past two years, while the average monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home has risen only 4.1% over the same period, thanks to a slight cooling in home prices and a dip in rates from their 2024 peak. They break down the math for a typical household earning the median weekly wage of $1,204, compare it to the principal-and-interest payment on a…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.