Single-family home affordability reached a three-decade low as prices increased by double-digit percentages and hit records in several major U.S. regions, according to the latest numbers from the National Association of Realtors trade group.

The group reported Friday that its housing affordability index, gauging families’ ability to buy an existing median-priced, single-family home, fell to 98.5 in June, the lowest number seen since June 1989’s 98.3. A score of 100 means that a family with the median income has exactly enough to qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced home, assuming a 20% down payment.

In June, homes in the Northeast and Midwest remained relatively affordable with scores of 102.3 and 132.3, respectively, but the South fell below the affordability threshold with a score of 99.3, with the West even lower at 69.6. All four regions dropped well below their year-earlier scores.

A top reason is that 80% of U.S. metro regions — 148 of 185 tracked by the trade group — saw double-digit annual price increases for existing homes in the second quarter. The national median sales price rose 14.2% from the year-earlier quarter to $413,500 and surpassed $400,000 for the first time in the group’s quarterly tracking.

“Home prices have increased at a pace that far exceeds wage gains, especially for low- and middle-income workers,” Lawrence Yun, the trade group’s chief economist, said in a statement. “The recent dips in mortgage rates will bring additional buyers to market, especially in those places where home prices are still relatively affordable and where jobs are being added.”

Single-family pricing and mortgage trends can significantly influence apartment demand, as first-time and other prospective homebuyers remain in the rental pool while waiting for their finances or economic conditions to improve. Second-quarter NAR numbers showed a nationwide affordability score of 68 for first-time homebuyers, down from 97.3 in the year-earlier quarter.

Chief executive changeovers at U.S. companies dropped in July to their lowest monthly level since April 2020, according to job placement and consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which suggested the stability might be due to a drop in pandemic-related business stress.

The Chicago-based firm said July’s 58 turnovers in the top executive post was down 45% from June’s 106 and the lowest monthly total since 48 CEOs departed during the first full month of the pandemic, amid nationwide business shutdowns and stay-at-home edicts.

“The economy is facing uncertainty right now, but it’s much more positive than in early 2020,” Senior Vice President Andrew Challenger said in a statement. “Inflation fell in July, gas prices are falling steadily, the job market remains tight and supply chain issues have mostly cleared up.”

Challenger noted, however, that CEOs still face lingering consumer skittishness about inflation and rising interest rates, “which might slow business borrowing and some growth plans.”

So far in 2022, 832 CEOs have left their posts, the highest January-July total since 2019 when 850 departed. The government and nonprofit category leads all industries this year with 187 CEO exits through July, followed by technology at 87 and hospitals at 59.

U.S. import prices dropped 1.4% from the prior month in July, possibly a step toward recovery for the supply chain as fuel prices declined, the Labor Department reported Friday. The monthly decline was the first since December 2021’s 1.4% drop and tied with December’s for the greatest decline since April 2020’s 2.6%.

The price index for U.S. exports, which contribute to gross domestic product, fell 3.3% from the previous month in July. The decline was the largest monthly drop since the 3.5% decline in April 2020, led in July by drops in agricultural products including soybeans, wheat and cotton.

The monthly import price drop was aided largely by a 7.5% decline in imported fuel prices, after prices rose 6.2% in both May and June. July’s decline was aided to a lesser extent by lower prices on items including industrial supplies, more than offset by higher auto prices among other categories.