SEATTLE — Many teachers may be starting the new school year in a new home.

According to Seattle-based real estate company Redfin, teachers nationwide can afford about 48% of rentals near their schools. That's up from 41% last year.

"I'm optimistic this could be a trend instead of just a blip because Seattle has been moving in the right direction when it comes to adding housing supply to the market," said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.

The bad news is this is still significantly below pre-pandemic levels which were closer to 58%.

Redfin looked at 33 cities and found that new leases are sluggish because there is a large number of units on the market.

Teacher salaries are also up almost 4% from last year. The numbers are even better in Seattle.

"In Seattle in particular, there was an 8% rise in median teacher salaries so that also adds to teacher buying power when it comes to a rental," said Fairweather.

In Portland, teachers can afford 91% of rentals within commuting distance from their school.

In Miami, it's less than 1%.

The news isn't so great for teachers who want to buy homes.

Nationwide, teachers can only afford about 14% of homes near their schools. That number hasn't changed since last year but it's down from 39% in 2019.

More teachers may be able to break into the housing market if interest rates start to drop.