Buying a Philly home requires $30K more income than renting
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Philadelphia metro homebuyers have to earn nearly $31,000 a year more than renters to afford their monthly housing payments, per a Redfin analysis.
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.
Driving the news: Prospective homebuyers in the region need an annual income of around $105,400 — roughly 41% more than renters need to afford a typical apartment.
- In comparison, the typical U.S. household earns an estimated $86,400.
Yes, but: The Philly region is among the most affordable places to buy a home in the U.S., behind Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit and Cincinnati, per Redfin.
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.
By the numbers: The median home sale price in the Philly region has reached nearly $359,000 (up 6.5% over last year), per Redfin.
- Meanwhile, the median asking rent is now roughly $1,900.
The fine print: Redfin's analysis assumes a homebuyer or renter spends no more than 30% of their income on monthly payments.
Context: The Philadelphia region we're talking about includes the burbs in Philly's collar counties, parts of South Jersey including Camden, and parts of Delaware and Maryland.
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, which includes Philly and Detroit.
What we're watching: President Trump's tariffs are expected to raise construction costs for new houses, another hurdle for aspiring homeowners managing tight finances.