Want to buy a home in Idaho? Here’s how much you need to earn per year, Zillow says
Looking to enter the homeowners’ club in Idaho?
According to a new report from Zillow, you’ll need to earn an annual income of over $106,000 to afford a home in the United States comfortably.
That’s 80% more than the income buyers needed to purchase a home in January 2020, the real estate marketplace company said in the Feb. 29 report.
As a result, hopeful homebuyers are “more often partnering with friends and family or ‘house hacking’ their way to homeownership,” Zillow said.
Here’s how housing costs have soared in the past four years:
Average U.S. home cost
The average monthly mortgage payment for a single-family home in the U.S. has almost doubled since January 2020, Zillow says.
With a 10% down payment, a typical monthly payment is about $2,188. That’s 96.4% more than what homebuyers would have paid four years ago.
According to data collected by Zillow, U.S. home prices have increased about 42% since 2020, with the typical home averaging $343,000.
While mortgage rates averaged 3.5% in early 2020, they are now around 6.6%, according to Zillow’s Feb. 29 report.
Average Idaho home cost
As in states across the country, Idaho home prices have been steadily increasing over the years.
Redfin notes that the median price of a home in Idaho for February 2024 is $484,100, up 8.4% from the same month a year earlier. The recommended annual income for a home at that price is $138,000.
Zillow also analyzes the value of homes in Idaho. Home value is often not synonymous with sale price. Data through February 2024 shows that the typical value of a house Idaho is $443,500, a 0.3% increase from a year before.
Average Boise home cost
Redfin says the average price for a single-family home in Boise for February 2024 is $479,990, about $4,000 less than the state average.
According to the Zillow Mortgage Calculator, the monthly mortgage payment for a home at this price on a 30-year fixed loan with about a 7% interest rate and a 10% down payment would be $3,563. This payment includes taxes and insurance fees.
According to Zillow, the average value for a home in Boise as of February 2024 is $473,115, a 1.8% increase from the same month a year before. Home value is often not the same as the sale price.
Difficulty in achieving homeownership
In 2020, a household with an annual income of $59,000 could comfortably afford the monthly mortgage on an average U.S. home by spending no more than 30% of its income with a 10% down payment, Zillow says.
At the time, that figure was below the U.S. median income of around $66,000, meaning more than half of American households could afford to own a home then.
New homebuyers now need to make more than $106,000 to comfortably afford a 30-year home mortgage with a 10% down payment, Zillow said.
However, according to Zillow, a typical U.S. household earns about $81,000 per year, making homeownership a distant dream for many.
Places with the most affordable homes
Here’s where Zillow says buyers can comfortably afford a home in the U.S. and how much income they need to earn each year:
Birmingham, Alabama - $74,338
New Orleans, Louisiana - $74,048
Cleveland, Ohio - $70,810
Memphis, Tennessee - $69,976
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - $58,232
Places with the least affordable homes
Zillow says seven metropolitan areas in the U.S. require homebuyers to have an annual income of $200,000 or more to comfortably afford a home.
Here’s where and the annual income needed to comfortably afford a home:
San Jose, California - $454,296
San Francisco, California - $339,864
Los Angeles, California - $279,250
San Diego, California - $273,613
Seattle, Washington - $213,984
New York, New York- $213,615
Boston, Massachusetts - $205,253
