Or to buy a home in some of the other metro areas around the United States?
Real estate brokers will tell you that one of the reasons for the increase in the price of residential real estate is the lack of inventory available for purchase.
The price run-up has also been attributed to demand based on the fear that mortgage rates may rise, the fact that millennials might finally entering the housing market and that the anticipated supply of new construction housing stock has not necessarily come to fruition.
Whatever the reason for home prices now far exceeding the pre-financial crisis highs (based on median home prices), the cost of homeownership is putting what was once considered to be an American right of passage out of reach for many.
Income Required To Buy A Home…
Of the top five metro areas in terms of salary required to afford a home four are located in California and the fifth in Hawaii.
The Number 1 cost metro area in the country is San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California where the median home costs $1,180,000 and the salary required to buy is $218,000.
Here’s what’s required in some other metro areas, and, to see the entire list a link to Business Insider is provided at the end.
The New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania metro areas ranked 13th overall in BI’s list. With a population of 20,182,305 and a median home cost of $414,000, the salary you need to buy is $76,613.
The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida, metro area ranked down at number 20. With a much lower population of 6,012,331 and median home cost of $335,000 the salary a sunshine state buyer needs is $61,994.
Meanwhile in Los Angles-Long Beach-Glendale, California weighed in at number seven. The population is 10,170,292 and the median home cost was $514,000. That means that the salary you’ll needed to buy is $95,156. (Source)
See the entire list of 23 U.S. housing markets at Business Insider here.
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- Who is your underwriter?
- What is the claims experience of your title insurance provider?
- Do you know whether the non-title insurance premium fees you are paying are fair and reasonable?