Here's How Much You Have To Make To Buy A House In 25 Major Cities

Business Insider ^ | 02/20/2014 | ANDY KIERSZ

[SeekAndFind]

Online mortgage company HSH.com recently estimated the salaries needed to afford a house in 25 metropolitan areas across the United States. Because, the cost of real estate varies across cities and regions — you need to be making about four times as much money in San Diego as in Cincinnati to afford a house.

The map illustrates these differences. The wider the circle over a city, the more you need to make to afford a house there:

CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE MAP AND TABLE

[Vigilanteman]

Noticeably absent: Detroit and Pittsburgh.

[DaveA37]

Just who in their right minds wants to live in those “cities”? Most are filled with street rats who go about killing, robbing and stealing anyone and everthing they can. It’s not for me.

[sauropod]

These people are on drugs.

[Red Badger]

[rightwingintelligentsia]

Really? You make less than $20K a year and you’re supposed to be able to afford a $112K house?

This sounds like Barney Frank economics.

[Red Badger]

[The KG9 Kid]

You can't buy a house in San Francisco on $115k salary. You won't be living on the Peninsula either. You might be able to live near the city if you don't mind eating Top Ramen sandwiches for the rest of your life.

You might be able to buy a house way out in Dublin or Pleasanton and commute your ass off 2 hours each way to work in the city on that salary.

Otherwise, to live in the city on that salary you're paying $2500/month rent of a 2-bedroom apartment or you're living in the Mission or the Tenderloin amongst the Philistines.

[editor-surveyor]

The truly curious thing is why anyone would want to buy any asset that will be subject to the coming 10% annual Federal asset confiscation tax that the IMF has set as a requirement for all national governments to employ.
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[Tax-chick]

The listed salaries with those prices are a recipe for default, even if you can get a mortgage on it these days.

For example, San Antonio, where I lived for more than ten years, shows a median house price of $171,700, and the salary of $29,305. That’s just nuts.

[BlueStateRightist]

Another unwritten issue about those most expensive markets in the Northeast: Once you buy that house fasten your seat belt for the annual property tax.

[patriotsoul]

Yes, thanks to Barney the only houses worth living in are $112k. I bought a home in DFW area in year 2000. I tried hard to stay within my single income to purchase a house (although I married the next year). Good thing because now I am at a single income again. The thing is, the mortgage brokers were trying really hard to convince me to buy bigger. I already knew I needed to downsize my life. However, my property taxes due to the economy are so high, my monthly house payment is outrageous! But think if I had listened to those financial ‘experts.’

[cuban leaf]

I moved from Seattle and now my house payment, my land payment, and both my car payments are approximately 1/3 what the mortgage and taxes would have been on my house in Seattle. And there I had a fifth of an acre. Here I have a new home a large 100+ year old barn and 32 gorgeous wooded acres.

Took me a while to find “paying” work out here, though. I didn’t move until I did.

[mountn man]

I used to think that 3x to 3-1/2x annual income was normal. Maybe even 4 with the lower mortgages of today vs 30 years ago. But these are over almost 6x.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “You might be able to buy a house way out in Dublin or Pleasanton and commute your ass off 2 hours each way to work in the city on that salary.” <<

.
You got that right!

Nobody is going to be buying anything in SF County for less than 1.5 million.

I recently did a certification survey to get a building remodel permit signed off for a row house on Anza St. The permit fees were based on a valuation of 3 million on that 2000 square foot house in a fairly average San Francisco neighborhood.
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[Steve_Seattle]

I don’t think you can buy a house anywhere in the US if you are making less than $30,000, maybe even $40,000. These numbers look way off.

[Baynative]

Last summer I got to chatting with a customer service rep who told me he recently moved from Detroit. When I asked him if he owned a home and had trouble selling it, he said he just left it.

I was blown away and he said it was no big deal because he bought it for $4,000.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Speaking of comparing cities..

The unhappiest U.S. metro areas to work in, according to Forbes.com:

1. Cincinnati-Middletown, OH (Index score of 3.32)
2. Orlando-Kissimmee, FL (Index score of 3.52)
3. Indianapolis, IN (Index score of 3.55)
4. Denver-Aurora, CO (Index score of 3.56)
5. Pittsburgh, PA (Index score of 3.58)
6. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (Index score of 3.59)
7. Columbus, OH (Index score of 3.61)
8. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA (Index score of 3.63)
9. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL (Index score of 3.63)
10. Arlington, VA (Index score of 3.64)
    here

[yarddog]

My daughter and her husband make over $100,000 combined as just wage earners. I know inflation has moved the mean income up a bit but when I was working for civil service that would have been enough to make you wealthy.

They have a nice house, nicer than the one she grew up in but our house was a good one just not as large as theirs now. They live in a rural suburb of a small city so prices are not high.

[bolobaby]

Under contract on a beautiful house with great features (like marble columned foyer) on almost 2 acres with a nice in ground swimming pool for $78 sqft outside of Charlotte, NC.

Forget the income you have to earn? What kind of House are you getting? Same house in San Francisco would be 500+ sqft. 1000 sqft houses in San Francisco are half a million.