Average Wage Earner Can't Afford Home In Hillsborough County

TAMPA, FL - Median home prices in more than 300 counties, including Hillsborough County, are not affordable for average wage earners, according to a new report from ATTOM Data. Over the past year, median home prices in Hillsborough County grew and home affordability dropped.

The report, which looked at home affordability for the first quarter of 2018, analyzed 446 counties and found that median home prices were not affordable for average wage earners in 304 counties or in 68 percent of the counties.

In Hillsborough County, the median sales price for a home in the first quarter of 2018 was $197,000, according to ATTOM. Compared to a year ago, the median home price in Hillsborough County grew 9 percent, according to the report.

According to ATTOM, the annual income needed to buy a median price home in Hillsborough County is $54,344. An average wage earner in Hillsborough County was not qualified to buy a home. According to the report, based on average weekly wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an average wage earner in Hillsborough County has an annual income of $52,143.

Hillsborough County’s affordability index also decreased 5 percent when compared to the previous year.

ATTOM collected data from publicly recorded sales deeds and from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The affordability index is based on the percentage of average wages needed to make monthly house payments on a median-priced home with a 30-year fixed rate mortgage and a 3-percent down payment, including property taxes, home insurance and mortgage insurance. (Read the full methodology here.)

Image via Shutterstock

Browse new homes for sale in your neighborhood: