Looking To Purchase A Home And Live In These Areas? They Require The Highest Income

Housing affordability is a major consideration when purchasing a home that often varies based on the market in which homebuyers are looking to purchase. 

In its "April Housing Trends Report," Realtor.com identified the markets in the U.S. in which buyers need to make the most money to be able to buy a median-priced home. 

While five of the metro areas in the top 10 could be found in California, locales in several other states also demanded big incomes, according to the real estate marketplace. 

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Homebuyers in each of the 10 metro areas that ranked among Realtor.com’s areas "with the highest required incomes to afford a home" all needed to take home at least six figures, with the San-Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California market taking the top spot. 

In April, homes in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara market had median prices of nearly $1.4 million, according to Realtor.com. It pegged the income needed to buy such a home at just over $370,000, more than any other market it looked at. 

This housing market, which is ranked No. 2, is also located in Northern California. Homebuyers needed to pocket about $263,000 a year to bear the expense of the market’s $995,000 median listing price in April, the report found. 

Of the metros in the top 10 for highest required income, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim market saw the biggest jump – 86% – from 2019 to a take-home of nearly $315,900, Realtor.com reported. The median home there cost $1.195 million in April.

San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad ranked as the market requiring the third-highest income from homebuyers, with over $258,900 in income needed for the median $979,500, per the report. Compared to a year ago, the median price of a home in the area in April dropped 6.7%. 

Tacoma is located south of Seattle, while Bellevue sits to the east of the city. To purchase a median-priced $782,225 home in this market, homebuyers had to make nearly $206,800, according to Realtor.com.

The Boston-Cambridge-Newton market saw its median listing price rise 0.9% year-over-year to hit $878,000 in April, per the report. Getting a home there takes a roughly $232,100 income. Boston, home to over 673,000 people, posted a 20.1% year-over-year jump in newly-listed homes in April, Realtor.com also found. 

Affording the median for a home in and around the Big Apple and across the Hudson River in New Jersey necessitated an income of almost $208,700 in April, the report indicated. The market’s required income has jumped 69.4% since April 2019.

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Denver serves as the capital of the Centennial State. Its housing market, and nearby Aurora and Centennial, had a median asking price of $599,450, meaning homebuyers there would have to make over $158,400 to be financially capable of getting approval to purchase a residence, according to Realtor.com. 

Realtor.com found the market, which includes the Golden State’s capital, has a median $633,570 price tag and the income required for such properties to be nearly $167,500. Homes typically sat on the market for 38 days there in April. 

The District of Columbia, Arlington and Alexandria are among some of the cities that fall within the so-called "DMV" (District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia) area encompassing the nation’s capital. The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria market, boasting homes listed at a median of nearly $623,000, requires earnings of about $164,680, the report said. 

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Nationwide, homebuyers had to pocket incomes of $114,000 to be able to be financially capable of buying a home, according to Realtor.com.

It used a 30-year fixed mortgage, a 20% down payment and maximum spending of 30% of gross monthly income to calculate that figure. 

Homes up for sale across the U.S. carried a median price tag of $431,250 in April, according to its data.

The report said the income needed to buy a median home in the U.S. has jumped 70.1% in the last six years compared to six years.

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In September of last year, the U.S. Census Bureau pegged the real median household income in the U.S. at $80,610.