Rising home prices are taking a toll on today's home buyers. For the first time in 4 quarters -- and despite falling mortgage rates -- home affordability is sinking. Earlier this week, the National Association of Home Builders reported the Home Opportunity Index, a measure of home affordability, down to 73.8 for the second quarter of the year. This marks the metric's first "down" quarter since the second quarter of 2011, and is its lowest reading since December 2010. A home is considered "affordable" when its payments meet standard mortgage underwriting criteria for families … [Read more...]