MEDIAN FIRST-TIME BUYER HOUSE PRICE TO ANNUAL INCOME RATIO:

50 LARGEST METROS

KEY FINDINGS

Both house prices and incomes are higher in the ten least affordable metros compared with the 10 most

affordable metros. Incomes were 51 percent higher in the 10 least affordable than in the 10 most affordable ($92,000 versus $61,000). But higher home prices more than canceled out this extra income. The median priced home in the 10 least affordable metros was more than 2½ times that in the 10 most affordable ($409,000 versus $159,000). When it comes to ease of buying your first home, it’s not how much you make, but where you buy. While FTBs in both Houston and Portland had similar median incomes, buyers in Portland paid 52 percent more than in Houston.

First time buyer homes are similar in size across

locations. Just because it is more expensive doesn’t mean the home is any bigger. The median finished square footages of FTB homes were similar for the 10 least affordable and for the 10 most affordable (1363 sq. ft. versus 1428 sq. ft.).

Affordability has remained relatively constant in the most affordable metros, but it has worsened in

the least affordable ones. The FTB affordability ratio in the 10 most affordable metros increased from 2.5 in 2013 to 2.6 in 2017. This small increase is the result of a modest increase in the median price of homes purchased (+7 percent over 5 years) combined with a modest increase in median income (+4 percent over 5 years). While the FTB affordability ratio in the 10 least affordable metros had a larger increase (from 4.0 in 2013 to 4.3 in 2017), the ratio would have increased even more if the substantial increase in the median price of homes purchased (+24 percent over 5 years) had not been largely offset by a substantial increase in median incomes (+16 percent over 5 years). FTBs in Denver lost the most ground, as its FTB affordability ratio increased from 3.5 in 2013 to 4.1 in 2017.