MortgageReal Estate

This is how much you need to buy a home in these top 10 cities

Assuming you already saved enough to put down 20%

It’s not hard to find headlines of home prices reaching new heights in metros across the country – we have many of our own seen here, here and here, to name a few.

And even rising mortgage rates isn’t enough to slow down home prices, the Federal Housing Finance Agency showed in its fourth quarter 2016 House Price Index report.

But exactly how much would homebuyers need to earn in order to buy a home? SmartAsset, a financial technology company, put together data from the U.S. Census Bureau and its own mortgage calculator to do just that.

However, keep in mind that the income required in each city is based on putting a 20% down payment, however many banks offer 3% down options for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages.

SmartAsset also assumed a 4% interest rate for 80% of the home value, the balance after the down payment, an annual home value increase of 2%, annual inflation of 2% and that buyers will have annual homeowners insurance of 0.5%.

Here are the income levels potential buyers need to buy a home in these top 10 largest cities across the U.S., and the median home prices in those cities, according to data from real estate website Trulia.

10. Phoenix, Arizona

Annual Income needed: $26,803

Median sales price: $209,900

Arizona

9. Houston, Texas

Annual Income needed: $27,067

Average listing price: $392,985

Houston

8. Dallas, Texas

Annual Income needed: $27,505

Average listing price: $718,471

skyline

7. Chicago, Illinois

Annual Income needed: $44,244

Median sales price: $244,000

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6. Austin, Texas

Annual Income needed: $47,523

Average listing price: $558,967

Austin skyline

5. San Diego, California

Annual Income needed: $75,816

Median sales price: $512,000

california

4. Los Angeles, California

Annual Income needed: $77,230

Median home price: $702,500

Skyline

3. New York City, New York

Annual Income needed: $96,993

Median sales price: $1,186,649

New York City Statue of Liberty

2. San Jose, California

Annual Income needed: $99,963

Median sales price: $750,000

San Jose

1. San Francisco, California

Annual Income needed: $128,598

Median sales price: $1,136,000

san francisco houses

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