Buying a home now requires $50K more income than renting
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Homebuyers have to earn over $50,000 more a year than renters to afford their monthly housing payments, according to a recent Redfin report.
Why it matters: A "triple whammy" of rising home prices, high mortgage rates and a shortage of houses for sale is making it harder for renters to make the leap to homeownership, per the report.
By the numbers: You need an annual income of around $116,600 to afford a mid-priced home — roughly 82% more than the $64,200 needed to afford a mid-priced apartment, the real estate site found.
- That gap has ballooned over the past few years.
- In comparison, the typical U.S. household earns an estimated $86,400.
Between the lines: Nationally, home-buying costs are climbing faster than rents, which have softened due to an influx of newly built apartments hitting the market.
- The median home price recently rose 4.5% from a year earlier to around $423,900, per Redfin, with mortgage rates hovering near 6.5%.
- And the median monthly rent was up 0.2% to roughly $1,600.
The fine print: Redfin's analysis assumes a homebuyer or renter spends no more than 30% of their income on monthly payments.
The big picture: A separate Bankrate study finds that renting is cheaper than buying a home in all 50 of the largest U.S. metro areas.
- Cost differences are widest in the West and smallest in the Rust Belt.
What's next: President Trump's tariffs are expected to raise construction costs for new houses, another hurdle for aspiring homeowners managing tight finances.
