The Valley may be losing its reputation as an affordable place to buy a house. New research finds Maricopa County’s affordability index is at its lowest level in more than 8 years.

“Over the last few years, home-price growth has been red hot, and wage growth has been tepid at best, and that’s really what’s causing this worsening affordability,” said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president with ATTOM Data Solutions.

During the first quarter of 2017, he said buying a median-priced home in Maricopa County required 35.5 percent of average wages. While that’s significantly less than Los Angeles (70.3 percent), it’s higher than the Chicago area (23.9 percent) and metro Houston (22.5 percent).

Blomquist said metro Phoenix home prices have risen 105 percent since bottoming out in 2011, while average wages have increased 10 percent. He described the market as still relatively affordable but no longer a big selling point. 

“Investors and others who are looking for deals are no longer going to Phoenix, which I think is a testament to that it is no longer that sweet spot of affordability,” he said.

Blomquist thinks most investors who bought when prices were low will keep renting those houses, which keeps inventory low for first-time homebuyers. One bright spot he said was a 7 percent increase year-over-year increase in average wages, which outpaced the 6 percent increase in home prices.

“That’s the first time we’ve seen that happen in Maricopa County since the beginning of the housing recovery in 2012,” he said.

You can check affordability across Arizona and the country by clicking on ATTOM's Q1 2017 Heat Map.