A Blunt Tool  Michael Lewyn's picture  How can one measure the
housing affordability of a city or region?  One common option is
to focus on a region's median home price (or the median home
price divided by median income).  I've used this method myself,
and regional medians will often be the best tool available.  But
sometimes, this method leads to absurd results.  For example,
the median home price for metropolitan Atlanta is $150,000,
which makes Atlanta seem like a remarkably affordable housing
market.(1)  But anyone who has actually lived in Atlanta knows
that for most of the past few years, it has been impossible to
purchase a single-family home there for $150,000, unless you are
willing to live (a) at or near some fairly unpleasant urban
neighborhoods, or (b) somewhere in drive-to-qualify country.  
(Of course, this has been less true for the past year or so!) 
In middle-class intown neighborhoods, prices tend to start at
much higher levels.  For example, in zip code 30306 (Virginia
Highlands/Morningside