Here's How Much You Must Make To Buy A DC-Area Home

WASHINGTON, DC — The District and its surrounding suburbs make up the eighth-most expensive area to buy a home in the country, a report released this month says. Washingtonians must make at least $84,503 to buy a home for the median sale price of $408,500, according to the website HSH.com, which tracks mortgage rates.

The Washington, DC metro area's median home price for the third quarter of this year was about 3.81 percent higher than the same period in 2016, HSH found. All but one of the 50 real estate markets the site reviewed showed year-to-year home price increases.

HSH includes a huge swath of suburbs in the DC area, including Arlington, Fairfax, Farquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford, (VA); Prince George's, Montgomery (MD), Frederick, Calvert, Charles (MD); Clarke, Culpepper, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Warren (VA) and Jefferson (WV).

Houses and apartments within the District can be much more expensive than $408,500. U.S. Census data puts the average Washington, DC home value at more than $545,000, according to the finance website SmartAsset.

The HSH report also found that if homebuyers in the Washington, D.C. metro put 10 percent down instead of 20 percent, the required salary increases from $84,503.35 to $98,251.50.

New York is the most expensive metro area on the East Coast. The California cities San Jose, San Franciso, San Diego and Los Angeles all ranked high as the most expensive areas to buy a home.

Read HSH's full real estate report here.

(Lead image via Pixabay)