(NewsNation) — In 2020, a household earning the median income could afford a typical U.S. home, but today, they'd need a $17,670 raise to do it, according to a new Zillow analysis.
To comfortably afford the mortgage on a typical U.S. home, now worth $367,969, you need a salary of nearly $100,000, Zillow found — and that assumes you already have $73,594 available for a 20% down payment.
So if your household makes the median income, $82,168, you would need a raise of more than 20% — totaling nearly $18,000 — to afford a typical mortgage.
In four California metros, typical earners would need much larger raises — over six figures — to afford a home in the area.
In San Jose, a household earning the median income would need a $250,000 raise to afford the typical mortgage, even with $330,000 set aside for a 20% down payment. Six-figure raises would also be necessary in San Francisco ($165,566), Los Angeles ($149,375), and San Diego ($128,954).
"Affordability remains a steep hill to climb, especially for first-time buyers," Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow, said in a statement.
The 10 cities where you need the biggest raise to afford a typical mortgage payment in the area, according to Zillow:
The calculation assumes a 20% down payment, and the raise amount needed is based on the median income for the local area.
CityRaise needed to afford a typical mortgage paymentSan Jose, California$251,597San Francisco, California$165,566Los Angeles, California$149,375San Diego, California$128,954New York, New York$99,343Seattle, Washington$84,356Boston, Massachusetts$78,703Riverside, California$60,685Miami, Florida$59,379Sacramento, California$53,660ZillowToday, there are only 11 major markets where the median income is enough to afford the typical mortgage payment, down from 39 such markets five years ago, according to Zillow. Those markets are generally clustered in the Midwest and Northeast.
Zillow found homebuyers in Cleveland are best off, given that median earners in the Ohio city make more than $11,500 over what is needed to afford a typical home. It's similar in nearby Pittsburgh, where median earners are taking home an extra $11,200. Buyers in St. Louis ($4,897) and Cincinnati ($4,396) aren't far behind.
To be considered affordable, a monthly mortgage payment can't account for more than 30% of household income.
While the supply of affordable housing still falls well short of demand, this spring's homebuying season offered some openings for buyers as inventory rose and more sellers were making concessions.
In certain markets, home prices even declined, but it will likely take more than savvy negotiating to solve the affordability crisis in the long run.
"To make homeownership more broadly accessible, though, we need lasting solutions, starting with policies that allow more homes to be built in the right places," Ng said.
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