Sky High Costs in California

Housing costs in most of California's major metros are now so high that high-income households are being priced out. Median annual household incomes in San Francisco and San Jose are more than $44,000 higher than the national median.

Even though the annual median household incomes for these metros range from $107,600 (San Francisco) to $124,300 (San Jose), the median home values in these metros are $957,400 and $1.25 million, respectively. If homebuyers in these metros earning the local median income put down 20 percent, the monthly payments would still surpass the 30 percent cost burden threshold, according to Zillow's data.

To bring that monthly payment in San Jose down to $3,108 per month – within the 30 percent threshold – a home buyer making the median income in the San Jose metro would need to make a ludicrous down payment of almost 50 percent, or $614,100, on the median-valued home. To put that in perspective, the required down payment alone is more than the combined values of a high-priced home in Kansas City ($336,200) and Pittsburgh ($266,800) – to say nothing of the entry-level or even median home in those areas.

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