Jan 27, 2025 - Real Estate
Record-high income needed to buy a Seattle home
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Affording a mortgage on a typical home in the Seattle metro requires an income of $227,000 a year, according to a recent Redfin report.
The big picture: In 2012, you needed an income of just $67,000 to buy a median-priced home in the Seattle area.
- Nationally, people need to earn roughly $117,000 a year to afford a median-priced U.S. home without spending more than 30% of their earnings on monthly housing payments, according to the report.
- That marks a new high in data going back to 2012 and is $33,000 more than the median household income in the U.S., which is around $84,000, per Redfin's analysis.
Zoom in: 2024 Redfin data showed that affording a starter home in Seattle required an income of $178,000, with less than 1% of listings affordable for middle-income households.
Reality check: The median household income in Seattle is $126,140, meaning most families fall far short of what's needed to buy even the least expensive homes.
Catch up quick: The median U.S. home price was nearly $430,000 last year, according to Redfin.
- Elevated mortgage rates and record prices are shutting many homebuyers out of the market.
- Mortgage rates topped 7% this month for the first time since May 2024, per Freddie Mac data.