Six cities on the U.S. coasts have a 70 percent or higher percentage of households that can’t afford a home, a new study found.
The Top 10 markets also may contain a surprise or two.
Personal finance website GOBankingRates used the median home listing price in the 100 largest cities to calculate typical monthly mortgage payments.
Using the rule that no more than 30 percent of income should go toward housing, GOBankingRates calculated the income needed to afford a mortgage. Researchers then compared this income to the number of households with income equal to or greater than that amount.
Topping the list is San Francisco, with a median listing price of $1,199,000. The percentage of households that can’t afford a home is at 76.7 percent.
The No. 2 city on the list is Boston, where the median listing price is $725,000. In Beantown, 75.7 percent of its households can’t afford a home.
Coming in at No. 3 is Miami, where the median listing price is $450,000 and 74.3 percent of households can’t afford a home.
Long Beach, Calif., claims No. 4, with a median listing price of $549,900, out of reach of
73.5 percent of households.
It is no surprise that the No. 5 market is also in California. Los Angeles, with a median listing price of $749,000 claims that spot. A total of 72.9 percent of households can’t afford a home.
Rounding out the top 10 are New York, $859,000, 71 percent; San Jose, Calif.,$880,703, 67.8 percent; San Diego, $659,000, 65.9 percent; Oakland, $605,000, 65.7 percent; and New Orleans, $300,000, 65.4 percent.
It should come as no surprise that six of the Top 10 cities with the highest percentage of households that can’t afford homes are in California.
However, one surprise entry comes in at No. 10. In New Orleans, the median home price is $300,000 but 65.4 percent of households can’t afford a home because wages are lower.
Median home prices in Oakland, Calif., are half as expensive as they are across the bay in San Francisco.
