Homeownership is increasingly out of reach for most U.S. families as the gap between people's earnings and home prices widens, according to a new analysis.

More than 75% across the country are unaffordable for the typical household, Bankrate said in a report . The personal finance firm defines a home as affordable if the annual housing costs do not exceed 30% of a household's income.

"Only a sliver of the housing market is affordable to the typical household," Bankrate data analyst Alex Gailey told CBS News. "That's when homeownership starts to feel less like a common middle-class milestone and more like a luxury."

Experts emphasize that the ability to buy a home, long viewed as a pillar of the American Dream, is critical for building wealth. But high home prices, driven in part

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