Here's What You Need To Earn To Buy A Home In Mercer County

Mercer County is among the counties nationwide in which median home prices are affordable for the average wage earner, according to a new report from ATTOM Data.

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. That's not the case in Mercer County, though.

In Mercer County, the median sales price for a home in the first quarter of 2018 was $183,350, according to ATTOM. Compared to a year ago, the median home price in Burlington County grew 6 percent, according to the report.

According to ATTOM, the annual income needed to buy a median price home in Mercer County is $60,536. According to the report, based on average weekly wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an average wage earner in Mercer County has an annual income of $69,251. Therefore, the average wage earner in Mercer County is qualified to buy a home in the county.

Mercer County had a home affordability index of 144 and was more affordable for average wage earners than its historic affordability average. Mercer County’s affordability index did decrease 8 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.

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