For a great many Americans, the dream of owning a home is just that: a dream. And, as reported by Reuters, even a modestly declining housing market is doing little to make the dream more of a reality:

U.S. home prices unaffordable for many workers: study

U.S. home prices may have dipped over the past year, but many American workers would still struggle to afford a median-priced home in major cities, a new study said on Wednesday.

“American workers are really not gaining ground and they’re so far behind in the first place,” said Barbara Lipman, research director for the nonprofit Center for Housing Policy, which conducted the study.

While the median home price in the 202 largest metropolitan areas declined 2 percent from a year ago to $248,000 in the third quarter of 2006, mortgage rates rose enough over the year that homes actually became less affordable as pay did not keep pace.

“The real story is what happened to salaries,” Lipman said. “Lower-paid occupations — such as in retail, or home health workers — their salaries went up only about 3 percent.”

The study found an annual income of nearly $85,000 was needed to afford the median-priced U.S. home. [full text]

I suppose that the good news is that cardboard boxes and shopping carts remain readily available though. 😮