(Radio Iowa) – A report by Common Sense Institute Iowa finds Iowa has one of the most affordable housing markets in the country. Institute spokesman Ben Murrey says the state ranks eighth in the country when factoring in property taxes, and 11th for affordability relative to what its residents earn.

“There are states that are very affordable in absolute terms, but wages are very low, and affordability doesn’t help them as much, whereas in Iowa, we have pretty good earnings relative to what housing costs here in Iowa,” he says. The report also found through September, the average Iowan needs to work 38 hours a week to be able to afford a mortgage payment for a single family home. That’s 14 hours a week less than the national average.

Murrey says the report also found Iowa is on track to eliminate its housing shortage by the end of 2028. “Price is a function of supply and demand. So in order to keep affordability up, we want to see a healthy growth in housing supply, and a lot of what’s driven housing prices so much higher around the country is just demand outpacing supply,” Murrey says.

The report estimates Iowa will have a deficit of nearly 16-thousand homes by the end of this year.