One of the worst things about today's real estate market is that there doesn't seem to be any silver lining in that big black cloud.

Normally, you'd think dramatically falling prices would make homeownership possible for more moderate-income families.

But even with homes more affordable, the median price in many markets is still out of reach for a median-income family, according to "Paycheck to Paycheck: Wages and the Cost of Housing in America," a study by the Center for Housing Policy, or CHP, in Washington, D.C.

Comparing housing costs in 210 metropolitan areas with the wages earned by workers in 60 occupations, the study found that homeownership is often unaffordable for workers in each of the five-fastest growing occupations -- registered nurses, retail salespeople, customer-service representatives, food-preparation workers and office clerks. Registered nurses, who typically have high salaries, were unable to purchase a median-priced home in 108 of the markets.

"Even with the housing downturn, the drop in prices still just isn't enough for many workers in traditional backbone occupations to afford houses," says Rebecca Cohen, a CHP research associate.

In many parts of the country, housing increases have outpaced wage growth for almost a decade. Census data released in 2006 revealed that between 2000 and 2005, the burden of housing costs grew sharply.

The Housing Affordability Index measures the cost of housing against median family income. The National Association of Realtors, or NAR, which calculates the index, considers that the typical family makes enough money to buy the typical used home, assuming a 20% down payment and a traditional 30-year mortgage.

In 2000, the NAR pegged the index at 129.2, meaning the typical family had 129% of the income necessary to pay for the typical used house. That figure dropped to 104.9 in June 2007, even though the 2000 median family income of $50,732 rose to $59,157 during the period.

That's because the median price of a home in 2000 was $139,000, but by June 2007 prices peaked at a whopping $229,200. In those seven years, the median price of homes increased 64.9%, while median incomes rose just 16.6%.