Bay Area Home Buyers Need Four Times Income Of Some Other U.S. Residents To Afford Average Home
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - We all know it's more expensive to live in the Bay Area than just about anywhere in the country, but how much more do you need to bring home to afford to live here? A lot.
A study from home mortgage tracker HSH.com indicates the average worker in the San Francisco Bay Area needs to earn $137,129 a year to buy the median-priced home in the region, more than four times the salary required in the five cheapest metropolitan areas: Cleveland ($29k), Pittsburgh ($30k), St. Louis ($31), Cincinnati ($31) and Detroit ($32k).
The Bay Area ranked as the least affordable at 27 out of 27 regions, nearly $40,000 more expensive than number two market, San Diego ($98k). New York, Los Angeles and Boston rounded out the top five most expensive, all requiring at least an $85k salary to buy the median home.
Essentially, you could buy a home in the San Diego and a home in the Great Lakes area and still have money left over if you forgo buying in the Bay Area.
HSH says the figures were reached using the National Association of Realtor's data for the median home prices and the group's own numbers for the average cost of a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.
Get the full list and breakdown of the top 27 metropolitan areas here.
