Buying a home was once considered a milestone. But in many parts of the U.S. today, it seems to be getting farther and farther out of reach for many Americans.
Across the country, home buyers need to make more than $106,000 to comfortably afford a home — an 80% increase in just 4 years, according to Zillow. A typical U.S. household earns about $81,000 a year. Given the current median household income, it would take nearly 8.5 years to save up enough for a 10% down payment on a typical U.S. home.
The median home sale price in the U.S. is $432,903, a 6.1% increase from last year. On top of sky-high home prices, monthly mortgage payments have also nearly doubled since January 2020, coming out to $2,188 (assuming a 10% down payment), according to Zillow. The average rate on a 30-year-fixed mortgage has hovered around 7% for more than a month.
Within the already unfavorable housing market, there are seven cities where households need to earn more than $200,000 annually to be able to comfortably afford a home.
Take a look at which cities require the highest incomes for prospective home buyers (hint: four of them are in California), according to Zillow.
