Home affordability has returned to pre-housing-bubble levels in a growing number of U.S. markets over the past year, buoyed by several years of sustained price declines, according to data from Moody's Analytics.

The data track the ratio of median home prices to annual household incomes in 74 housing markets. By that measure, housing affordability at the end of September had returned to or fallen below the average reached between 1989-2003 in 47 of those markets. Most economists believe the housing boom began in 2003.

During the housing boom, lax lending and speculation pushed house-price inflation far beyond the modest rise in household income. Nationally, the ratio of home prices to annual household income reached a peak of 2.3 in late 2005. But by last September, it had fallen to 1.6, well below the historical average of 1.9 between 1989 and 2003.

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