SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) – There are seven metropolitan areas in the U.S. where a household must make at least $200,000 to comfortably afford buying a home, and San Diego is in the top four.
According to a recent study by Zillow, people looking to buy a home in San Diego need to have an income of at least $273,613.
A monthly mortgage payment in San Diego is approximately $5,757 with a 10% down payment.
At this rate, Zillow estimates it could take people nearly 17 years to be able to even afford the 10% down payment in San Diego.
Of the homes that were sold across San Diego County last month, the most expensive single-family property was a Coronado Spanish-style estate. The four-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion was sold for $28 million.
Four years ago, a household making $59,000 a year could comfortably afford the monthly mortgage on a typical U.S. home, despite the nationwide median income being about $66,000 at that time, according to Zillow.
Now, U.S. homebuyers will need to make more than $106,000 annually which is much more than the median household income of $74,580, using the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The three other cities at the top of Zillow’s list are all in the state of California: San Jose ($454,296), San Francisco ($339,864) and Los Angeles ($279,250). Seattle ($213,984), the New York City metro area ($213,615) and Boston ($205,253) round out the rest of the seven least affordable places to buy a home.
With mortgage rates rising, Zillow says millennial and Gen Z homebuyers are turning to “house hacking,” which refers to renting out part of or their entire home for extra money.
Another 21% of last year’s buyers reported co-buying properties with a friend or relative.
Some people may choose to take their homebuying journey outside of California.
Zillow’s report lists Pittsburgh, Pa. ($58,232), Memphis, Tenn. ($69,976), Cleveland, Ohio ($70,810), and New Orleans, La. ($74,048) as the areas with the lowest income needed to afford a typical home.
Still, some San Diego homebuyers seem to be seeing slivers of opportunity.
Last month, according to a report from the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors (SDAR), single-family home sales increased 20% from January, while condominiums and townhomes rose by 24%.