Houston Earns A 'C' For Home Affordability  A new study ranks
Houston 11th out of the 25 largest U.S. metro areas in terms of
home affordability.  The research, conducted by Bankrate
subsidiary Interest.com, examined median-household income for a
given metro area and compared it to how much income was required
to purchase a median-priced home. It then assigned the city a
letter grade.  In Houston’s case, median income exceeded the
median home price by just 5%.  “Houston came up with a solid C
in our ratings.”  Mike Sante is managing editor for
Interest.com.  “While you had an advantage with having lower
than average housing prices, you had a disadvantage in that your
property taxes were higher than average.”  Sante says exposure
to hurricanes also offset the low cost of Houston housing by
driving up the cost of homeowners’ insurance. That, he says,
helps explain why Houston earned a C, while Phoenix, Arizona
took a B+.  Bio photo of Andrew Schneider  Andrew Schneider
Business Reporter