Published by FOX News | November 17, 2022
Redfin reports homebuyers need to make at least $107K annually to afford typical U.S. home
The leader of the nation’s largest trade association for homebuilders has warned of a “worst-case scenario” facing some housing markets as homebuyers get squeezed.
“Right now, in almost no market in this country, can a homebuilder build a house that is affordable for a first-time homebuyer,” National Association of Home Builders CEO Jerry Howard said on “Varney & Co.” Thursday. “We can’t do it. The costs that are on us make it impossible.”
His comments come as new data from Redfin revealed that a homebuyer has to earn at least $107,281 to afford the $2,682 monthly mortgage payment on a typical U.S. home, representing a 45.6% jump from last year, when annual income to afford a home was $73,000.
“The income needed to buy a home is well above what the median income is in this country. And that means that you have to be part of the upper class to be able to afford a home now, when previously, homeownership was seen as a way to enter into the upper class. Now you have to already be there to be able to afford that starter home.”
–Daryl Fairweather, Redfin chief economist
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average median wage for U.S. full-time and salary workers was $55,640 per year, or $1,070 per week, in the third quarter of 2022.
Howard went on to say that he hasn’t seen any sign of a turnaround in the housing market, noting many builders are not looking forward to the spring building season.
