Can You Afford To Buy A House In One of These Big Cities?

Most of us wish to live in a big city, enjoying its perks and grandeur and dismissing its problems. Usually, we rent an apartment or room, but is it possible to buy a house? On the positive side, real estate prices are finally reaching stability due to the increase in the supply and the decrease in the demand. This is mostly applicable in the West where price increases have slowed down compared to the rest of the country.

Buying a house means paying more than just your monthly mortgage principal and interest payments. It includes other payments as well including property taxes and homeowner’s insurance. In case your down payment is less than 20%, you even have to pay mortgage insurance. So, considering these expenses and the local mortgage rates, let’s see if you can afford any to buy a house in some of the most expensive places we have listed here for you.

San Jose

Let’s start with the priciest area which is none other than the center of Silicon Valley. To live in San Jose, you should have more than a quarter of a million dollars as annual income because this area is more expensive than the metro area of San Francisco. On the bright side, the home prices have decreased by 1.57 percent but is that good news for you?

San Francisco

Undoubtedly a beautiful city but is it an affordable place to live? Many employees based in San Francisco have expressed how expensive the cost of living is in this area. Owning a house here means you will have to be earning an income of almost $200,000. This is most likely the reason why various companies are offering “delocation” packages in order to help them find a better and more economical place and work remotely from there. Do you still think San Francisco is a good idea?

San Diego

This city of beaches that borders Mexico is known to have high home prices — with the average being around $626,000 — and in order to maintain this standard of living with the mortgage rates, it’s also necessary to earn $131,641 as your salary. Therefore, it can be said that any place out of Northern California would be a better choice for those with less than this salary.

Los Angeles

A better choice than the aforementioned cities in this list but still one for the dreamers, to live in the City of Angels is a goal for many. The city of dreamers has average home prices of around $576,100 which may be out of bounds for people earning less than $123,156 so it can be said that these people also hope for home ownership in their dreams.

Boston

Boston is a technology center which has had a quick increase in its home prices as of late. This means that the city of baked beans and the home of the Red Sox brings the possibility of ownership only for those who are able to afford and maintain a house worth $460,300.

New York

How could we miss out on the city that never sleeps! A place that is a center for so many things including arts and culture, broadcast, publishing, finance, and fashion is, of course, going to be on this list. With the presence of big tech companies, it’s not surprising that a home in the Big Apple costs around $403,900! And don’t forget the prices of goods and services as well. Can you afford it?

Seattle

An increase in the home prices of this city has occurred due to the decrease in the housing supply which is the result of the great number of residents who have shifted to the area which is home to Boeing, Amazon, and Microsoft. It is due to these factors that $489,600 is the amount you need in order to buy a house in Seattle.

Denver

The location of this city is one of interest as it is the hub of transportation, logistics, and communications. These aspects are what has led to an increase in its population which as a result has driven up the housing prices. You would need a salary of over $90,000 in order to maintain a house here. The average price of real estate has been estimated to be around $438,300.

Portland, Oregon

With an average home price requirement of $389,000, this city is headquarters to Nike, Adidas, and Columbia. If this isn’t enough, Portland is an attractive location for tech companies as well which are around 1200 in number.

So, considering your annual income, can you afford to buy a house in any of these areas?