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The annual salary needed to afford the median home in Boston is more than $106,000.
That’s according to a recent report from the data visualization site howmuch.net that examined data from the company HSH Assoc., which compiled median-home price data from the National Association of Realtors, national mortgage rate data from Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, and property tax and homeowner’s insurance costs data. The report then determined the annual salary it takes to afford a home including principal, interest, property tax and homeowner’s insurance in the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas. The analysis also assumed a down payment of 20 percent.
Massachusetts single-family home sales edged higher last month as the median sale price reached an all-time high of $377,000 for the month of March according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, a 6.2 percent increase year-over-year. The median sale price in 2018 was $385,000, a 5.4 percent increase over the 2017 median price.
Meanwhile, the median condominium sale price in March dropped 7.3 percent on a year-over-year basis to $360,000. The median condo sale price in 2018 was $365,000, a 7 percent increase over the 2017 median price.
The only metropolitan areas in the report that required higher salaries than Boston were Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose, which was the most expensive at more than $254,000. The cheapest cities were Indianapolis, Memphis, Oklahoma City, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, which was the cheapest at just more than $37,600.
In general, metro areas in the Midwest and the South require lower salaries than metro areas on the West Coast and the East Coast. HSH noted that when looking at the nation overall, a buyer would need to earn $61,453 in order to buy a home. However, 24 of the largest 50 metro areas require a higher salary to make it affordable. It’s also worth noting that even within metro areas, home prices and salaries can differ by ZIP code or neighborhood, so final costs could vary even more.
