-low mortgage rates and declining home prices allow nearly 55 million families – or about half of all U.S. households – to afford today's $200,000 median-priced new home, according to figures released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). ‘That's an increase of 17 million households from conditions just two years ago and the best housing affordability number we have seen in years,’ notes NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. "We are now seeing the first signs that buyers are returning to the marketplace." Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau comparing home prices, mortgage rates and minimum income needed to purchase a median-priced home in February 2007 and February 2009, a typical family today can purchase a house with $20,000 less in household income and save nearly $500 per month on their principal, interest, taxes and insurance. The number of households that can afford to purchase a home today is 55.4 million, compared with 38.4 million two years ago, according to figures compiled by NAHB. Single-family permits were up 11 percent in February, new- and existing-home sales also posted gains and the huge inventory backlog is being slowly whittled down, NAHB says. In a survey for Century 21 Real Estate last month among prospective first-time home buyers who indicated they were likely to purchase a home in the next two years, 78% said that now is a good time to buy a home. Of those responding to the online poll, 68% said that now is a better time to buy than six months ago. SOURC