Earnings in Tampa Bay are simply not keeping up with housing prices. According to a report from ATTOM Data Solutions, average earnings in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties fall considerably short of the annual income required to buy a house, based on a 28 percent front end debt-to-income ratio and 3 percent down. The average resident in Hillsborough County earns slightly more than $54,000, compared to a required annual income (for a house) of $58,258. In Pinellas County, the average income…

The housing market continues to face a “seemingly offsetting set of headwinds and tailwinds,” said one analyst.

For decades, smaller metropolitan areas closed the income gap with bigger, richer ones, but no longer. So places like Winston-Salem, N.C., are trying to lay a new foundation for prosperity.

More Tampa Bay homeowners are keeping up with their mortgages. According to a loan performance insights report from CoreLogic, this past April, the mortgage delinquency rate in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area, 3.9 percent, was 2.4 percentage points lower than it was in April 2018, when it was 6.3 percent. The serious delinquency rate decreased, too. This rate — which measures payments that are 90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure — also decreased by…

Using government subsidies, tax credits and zoning changes, city leaders are encouraging builders to incorporate affordable housing into mixed-use projects.