Dive Brief:

• Buying a home got a bit easier in the fourth quarter of 2014 as interest rates dipped and housing prices lowered in some markets.

• The latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index showed that 62.8% of homes sold from October through December were “affordable” to families with incomes of $63,900, the median U.S. income. In the third quarter, 61.8% of homes were affordable to that income group.

• The report noted that the median price of a home, at $215,000, was $5,800 less in the fourth quarter than in the third. At the same time, the average mortgage interest rate fell from 4.35% to 4.29%.

Dive Insight:

NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe projected that low interest rates, combined with declining home prices and a growing job market, will make homes more affordable and “release pent-up demand” for entry-level housing.

If that continues, Crowe noted, “the housing market [will move] forward in the year ahead.”

However, mortgage interest rates have risen slightly over the past couple of weeks, increasing the cost of borrowing. Realtor.com’s latest report on housing inventory showed that the availability of housing is tight, and that’s pushing home prices upward.