Here's The Salary Needed To Afford A Home In Denver: Study

DENVER, CO – Median house prices have fallen in Denver, but the optimal minimum annual income needed to afford to buy has stayed flat, according to a new study.

According to the study by HSH.com, median home prices in the fourth quarter of 2018 in Denver were lower compared to the third quarter of 2018. However, this is not uncommon and it doesn’t indicate that homes are becoming more affordable.

In Denver, median home prices this quarter were $438,300, according to the National Association of Realtors.That's about 2.7 percent lower than the last HSH study in November, 2018 which calculated income based on a $450,000 house.

But the annual salary needed is about the same: $91,672.45.

The study assumes that the buyers can scrape up a downpayment of 20 percent, for a monthly payment of $2,139.02 at 4.90 percent mortgage interest. It also assumes that you are willing to pay only one-third of your income for housing costs, a tougher ratio to afford these days (damn those student loans!). If buyers can only come up with a 10 percent downpayment the study's required salary increases to $106,995.29.

Denver remains at ranking number 9 in the study's 10 least-affordable areas to buy a home, just after Washington DC and before Portland, Oregon.

While San Jose, California was the least affordable metropolitan area on the list, the Pittsburgh area was the most affordable metropolitan area. The study found that the difference in salary required between the two areas to afford a home was a whopping $217,000.

Top 10 least affordable places to buy a home:

San Jose (Salary needed: $254,835.73)
San Francisco (Salary needed: $198,978.01)
San Diego (Salary needed: $131,640.79)
Los Angeles (Salary needed: $123,156.01)
Boston (Salary needed: $106,789.93)
New York City (Salary needed: $105,684.33)
Seattle (Salary needed: $105,367.89)
Washington D.C. (Salary needed: $94,408.70)
Denver (Salary needed: $91,672.45)
Portland (Salary needed: $85,173.08)

The 10 most affordable metros for buying a home are:

Pittsburgh (Salary needed: $37,659.86)
Cleveland (Salary needed: $40,437.72)
Oklahoma City (Salary needed: $41,335.41)
Memphis (Salary needed: $41,400.93)
Indianapolis (Salary needed: $42,288.92)
Louisville (Salary needed: $42,323.15)
Cincinnati (Salary needed: $43,429.97)
St Louis (Salary needed: $44,215.56)
Birmingham (Salary needed: $44,593.35)
Buffalo (Salary needed: $45,698.05)

You can read the full study from HSH.com here.

By Feroze Dhanoa, Patch Staff

Related: Denver: Here's How Much Income You Need To Buy A House

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