Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y. is the nation’s most affordable housing market among major metropolitan areas with populations over one million, according to the newly released National.... Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y. is the nation’s most affordable housing market among major metropolitan areas with populations over one million, according to the newly released National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) for the fourth quarter of 2004. Among smaller markets, Lima, Ohio rated tops for metros with fewer than 250,000 people, while Saginaw-Bay City-Midland, Mich., was the most affordable midsized market with 250,000 to just under one million people.

Buffalo-Niagara, N.Y., was the nation’s most affordable major market and the sixth most affordable market overall – behind the less-populated metros of Lima, Ohio; Cumberland, Md.; Mansfield, Ohio; Saginaw-Bay City-Midland, Mich.; and Canton-Massillon, Ohio, respectively. In Buffalo, nearly 90 percent of homes sold in 2004’s final quarter were affordable to families earning the area median income of $53,600. The median price of homes sold in the market during that period was $79,000.

With nine markets appearing on the “25 Most Affordable Metro Areas” list, Ohio wins the title of the most affordable state in which to buy a home nationwide. Illinois and Michigan tied as the second-most affordable states, with four metros in each appearing on the top-25 list.

On the flip side of the coin, Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif. tied with Salinas, Calif. for the bottom-most spot on the “25 Least Affordable Metro Areas” list. With 19 entries on that list, California was once again the nation’s least affordable state housing market overall. No other state had more than two entries in the least-affordable column.

In Los Angeles-Long Beach, where the median home price was $415,000 in the fourth quarter, only 5.2 percent of homes sold were affordable to median-income families earning $53,500 per year.