The number is twice the national median
Households who were looking to buy a home in four major metros in California need to have an income of more than $250,000, more than twice the national median of $116,000, according to a report by Realtor.com.
Housing data for April released by the company showed that Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco all required buyers to have income above a quarter-million dollars.
“California is a fascinating market not only because the income-required figures are an eye-popping quarter of a million dollars, but because it is a microcosm of the variety we're seeing in housing markets nationally,” said Realtor.com’s chief economist Danielle Hale.
Hale explained that San Francisco saw its home prices drop enough to offset rising mortgage rates and the income needed to purchase a home decreased. Meanwhile, home price declines in San Jose and Sacramento were more modest while required income increased because of those higher mortgage rates.
“The majority of major US markets see trends like we're seeing in Southern California. In Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Diego rising home prices and mortgage rates have combined to push required incomes higher—in some cases like in these California markets, up by double digits compared to one year ago,” said Hale.
In six metros all over the country, a household income of more than $200,000 was needed. These places are San Jose ($361,000), Los Angeles ($298,000), San Diego ($259,000), San Francisco ($256,000), Boston ($226,000), and New York ($218,000).
Meanwhile, the most affordable metros that required a household income that was lower than $100,000 in order to purchase a median-priced home were Pittsburgh ($67,000), Detroit ($69,000), and Cleveland ($71,000).
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