Home ownership investor firm highlights affordability gap

The gap between affordable and unaffordable homes vary not just from city to city but from neighborhood to neighborhood according to a new report

Home ownership investor firm highlights affordability gap

The gap between affordable and unaffordable homes vary not just from city to city but from neighborhood to neighborhood according to a new report.

Unison Home Ownership Investors analyzed data from the 22 largest metros in the US and says that in New York the salary needed for a median home with a 10% down payment is an astounding $418k, but in Chicago it is only $65k and in Dallas it is only $49k.

Meanwhile, on a neighborhood basis, in the city of Atlanta, the Peachtree Heights West neighborhood requires a salary of $142k with a 10% down payment, while the Ormewood Park / Glenwood Park neighborhood requires a salary of just $63k.

"Our mission at Unison is to increase the purchasing power of potential home buyers by educating them about the options they have," said Benjamin Feldman, director of content at Unison. "Our findings present a clear breakdown of the current state of the housing market and serve as a reference for home buyers who are planning to buy a home in the next year or beyond."

The least, most affordable metros
California continues to dominate the list of metros that are the least affordable.

They include San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, where an annual salary of $231k is needed to buy the median home with a 10% down payment, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, where a salary of $157k is required, and San Diego-Carlsbad, where a salary of $139k is required.

The most affordable metros are in the Midwest: Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, where an annual salary of $35k is needed to buy the median home with a 10% down payment, Kansas City, where a salary of $41k is needed, and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, where a salary of $44k is needed.