Here's How Much Income You Need to Afford a Median-Priced Bay Area Home
As the cost of Bay Area real estate has continued to rise, so has the minimum income needed to afford a home there. In fact, the income a home buyer needs in order to afford a median-priced home in the Bay Area has more than doubled over the last five years.
The Mercury News reports that back in 2012, buyers needed a minimum income of $90,370 to buy a median-priced single-family home costing $447,970. According to a second-quarter report by the California Association of Realtors, the minimum necessary income to afford a median-priced home of $895,000 has now increased to $179,390.
But even that income is only likely to get home buyers a place in Alameda County or Solano County, where the median home prices are $880,000 and $412,000, respectively. Homes in San Francisco or Santa Clara County, where the medians are $1.45 million and $1.18 million respectively, are nearly out of the question.
If your favorite Bay Area TV characters can’t afford their homes on their salaries, what chance do the rest of us have?
San Francisco is one of the least affordable counties in the entire state of California, as only 12 percent of interested buyers can afford a median-priced single-family home there.
But the housing crisis is not limited to the Bay Area. In Santa Barbara, the number is only a little higher at 16 percent. Contra Costa County is at 31 percent. The report sheds light on the fact that unaffordable real estate costs have become a statewide issue.