Many companies featured on Money advertise with us. Opinions are our own, but compensation and in-depth research may determine where and how companies appear. Learn more about how we make money.
Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter at Money who frequently covers news stories about housing topics including home buying, mortgage rates and homeowners insurance.
Brad Tuttle is a senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.
The income needed to afford a typical home has increased by a staggering 80% in the past four years, highlighting just how much current home prices and mortgage rates are straining buyers' budgets.
Last month, homebuyers needed to make about $106,500 to afford the monthly mortgage payments for a typical home. That’s up from about $59,000 in January 2020, according to a new report from Zillow.
Four years ago, most households could comfortably cover the monthly payments on a typical home because the median income was about $66,000.