The Amount You Need To Earn To Buy A Home In Fairfax County

Median home prices in over 300 counties, including in Fairfax County, are not affordable for average wage earners, according to a new report from ATTOM Data. Over the past year, median home prices in Fairfax County grew, but home affordability improved.

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 Fairfax County, the median sales price for a home in the first quarter of 2018 was $470,000, according to ATTOM. Compared to a year ago, the median home price in Fairfax County grew 4 percent, according to the report.

According to ATTOM, the annual income needed to buy a median price home in Fairfax County is $144,240. An average wage earner was not qualified to buy a home in Fairfax County. According to the report, based on average weekly wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an average wage earner in Fairfax County has an annual income of $83,720. Wages grew 3 percent over the last year.

Fairfax County had a home affordability index of 120, which is actually more affordable for average wage earners than its historic affordability average. Fairfax County’s affordability index increased 7 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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