Unfortunately we aren't playing the Monopoly board game and it looks like we going to need more than paper money and little green houses to afford the American dream in the Bay Area and Monterey Peninsula.
According to the California Association of Realtors affordability index, which is based on sales in the fourth quarter of 2017, it will now take a household income of $303,000 to buy a median-priced home in San Francisco. The index approximates the percentage of households with the minimum income needed to buy an existing, median-priced single-family home with a 20 percent down payment at the current interest rate.The new salary number is what a buyer needs to make to afford the $7,580 payment on a $1.5 million home, the fourth-quarter median.
Although the Monterey Peninsula does not directly mirror San Francisco, the average combined sales price for Carmel, Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove is currently $1,523,000 and falls within this matrix. There are still areas of the Peninsula that are under the million dollar mark but home prices continue to rise. It's a tough market for first time home buyers and our local communities continue to work on affordable housing solutions. We need it!
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, February 15th, 2018