The dream of finding an affordable home can feel increasingly out of reach for many prospective buyers, especially those in the middle-income bracket.

While the housing market might appear robust on paper, a closer look reveals a significant disconnect between available homes and what many can truly afford.

A collaborative piece from Realtor.com® and the National Association of Realtors®, the 2026 Housing Mismatch Report, highlights this critical issue. It reveals that middle-income households continue to face the largest supply gap, with buyers earning around $75,000 able to afford homes priced up to about $261,140.

Homes priced below this point currently account for only about 23% of listings nationally, compared with about 44% in a balanced market, representing an effective shortage of about 311,000 listings within reach of these buyers.

This disparity means that 36% of metros fall below 70% alignment, indicating that many lower- and middle-income households struggle to find listings within their price range. In the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC metro area, this challenge is particularly evident, as the metro currently faces a shortage of homes for middle-income earners.

Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC’s housing landscape

The housing market in Augusta, GA and the surrounding Richmond County presents a challenging picture for middle-income buyers. According to the report, for buyers earning $75,000, the metro is categorized as having a moderate shortage of affordable homes.

In March 2026, only 30.60% of listings were considered affordable for these buyers, a decrease from 33.80% in March 2025. This translates to a deficit of 787 affordable listings missing from the market.

Additionally, the report gives the area an alignment score that shows how well the current distribution of home listings matches the distribution of household incomes in a given market.

A score of 100% means listings are distributed proportionally across income levels, while a lower score means the available listings do not match what local buyers can afford. The score is calculated by comparing, at each of 12 income tiers, the actual share of listings that a household in that tier can afford against the share they would be able to afford in a balanced market, when listing prices are distributed proportionally across all income groups.

For the Augusta-Richmond County metro, the March 2026 Listing-Income Alignment Score stood at 78.90%. While this represents a positive change of +4.4 compared to 2025, it still marks a significant decline of 16.7 when compared to 2019.

This indicates that despite some recent improvements, the market still has a long way to go to truly align with the financial realities of its local buyers.

Experts weigh in on the path forward

Addressing the housing challenges in metros like Augusta-Richmond County requires more than just an increase in overall inventory. Experts emphasize the need for homes that align with what buyers can actually afford.

“The data makes clear that more inventory alone won’t be enough to unlock the housing market,” Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com®, explains. “A true recovery requires homes at the right price points.”

She adds, “Until the supply of entry-level and middle-market homes grows to meet demand, many buyers will continue to find the market out of reach despite headline improvements in affordability and inventory.”

Nadia Evangelou, NAR principal economist and director of real estate research, echoes this sentiment. “The U.S. housing market continues to face a structural mismatch between the homes available for sale and what buyers can afford,” she states.

Evangelou further notes, “Too much of the inventory available today remains concentrated at higher price points, leaving a shortage of options for entry-level and middle-income buyers.”

These insights underscore the urgent need for targeted solutions to create a more balanced and accessible housing market for everyone.

Generated with AI assistance and finalized through human editorial oversight by Dina Sartore-Bodo and Gabriella Iannetta.