The housing market has never been this unaffordable for new buyers

• New home buyers are facing the least affordable market ever, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows.
• The group’s Purchase Applications Payment Index hit a record high, indicating declining affordability.
• “For new home buyers, this is the worst situation since the end of the Great Recession.”

Americans looking for a new home are facing the least affordable market ever, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. 

The group’s Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI) increased 0.5% in April to a record high of 172.3. A higher reading indicates declining borrower affordability conditions, due to either increasing loan amounts, rising mortgage rates, or a decrease in earnings.