
Homebuyers Need to Earn Over $50,000 More Than Renters to Afford Monthly Payments—And the Gap Is Widening
Americans need an annual income of $117,000 to afford the typical home for sale. That’s 82% more than they need for the typical rental, up
Elijah de la Campa is a senior economist at Redfin, where he researches all facets of the housing market. Prior to Redfin, Elijah studied barriers to homeownership among historically underserved populations as an economist at Freddie Mac. After receiving his PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University, he studied the impact of COVID-19 on rental markets and small landlords’ rental businesses as a Senior Research Associate of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative and Research Affiliate of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Elijah’s research has been covered by outlets such as the New York Times, CBS Evening News, and AP News.

Americans need an annual income of $117,000 to afford the typical home for sale. That’s 82% more than they need for the typical rental, up

Affluent renters have become more common in 35 of the 50 most populous U.S. metros since 2019, with Raleigh and Orlando seeing the biggest upticks.

A household earning the median U.S. income would have had to spend 41.8% of their earnings on monthly housing costs to buy the typical home

37% of home purchases made by people 65+ occur in counties with high risk of extreme heat, compared with 32% of purchases made by people

This year marked the first time since 2010 that low-risk homes across three major climate categories—heat, fire and flood—gained value faster than high-risk homes. That

Property tax bills have increased since 2019 in nearly every major U.S. metro, with Florida home to three of the five metros with the biggest

Americans need an annual income of $117,000 to afford the typical home for sale. That’s 82% more than they need for the typical rental, up

Affluent renters have become more common in 35 of the 50 most populous U.S. metros since 2019, with Raleigh and Orlando seeing the biggest upticks.

A household earning the median U.S. income would have had to spend 41.8% of their earnings on monthly housing costs to buy the typical home

37% of home purchases made by people 65+ occur in counties with high risk of extreme heat, compared with 32% of purchases made by people

This year marked the first time since 2010 that low-risk homes across three major climate categories—heat, fire and flood—gained value faster than high-risk homes. That

Property tax bills have increased since 2019 in nearly every major U.S. metro, with Florida home to three of the five metros with the biggest