Our housing gap
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Denver homebuyers have to earn $88,500 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 prices, high mortgage rates and a shortage of for-sale houses 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 $155,700 to afford a mid-priced home in the metro area — more than the $67,200 required to afford a mid-priced apartment, the real estate site found.
- That gap has ballooned over the past few years.
The big picture: 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 in February rose 4.5% from a year earlier to around $423,900, per Redfin, with mortgage rates hovering near 6.5%.
- Meanwhile, the median monthly rent was up 0.2% to roughly $1,600.