Do you need to make more than $100,000 to buy a home? More and more, the answer is yes.
The median income for new homebuyers has increased sharply since the Covid pandemic and surpassed six figures, according to an NBC News analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Experts say this is an omen of economic distress. The change reflects the exclusivity of today’s housing market, one where even prospective buyers with a six-figure salary can struggle.
New homebuying households earned a median income of $110,000 in 2023, NBC News’ analysis found, with buyers 40 years old and under earning $114,000. Among those younger generations, the change is especially noticeable: New buyers now have higher incomes than people who already have homes.
Chen Zhao, head of economic research at Redfin, said that even though Gen Z workers are earning more than previous generations did at their age, they are finding themselves priced out.
“If you look back a couple of generations, people were able to more comfortably afford housing,” Zhao said. “It’s not surprising that the income required to become a homeowner right now is increasing.”
The bottom line: Today’s homebuyer isn’t just equipped with good credit and a down payment; they’re increasingly required to be among America’s highest earners.
Nationwide, the median income is nearly $81,000. For renters it’s $62,000.
Rising incomes can fuel inflation as prices follow, Zhao said, creating an inflationary cycle. And the effects extend beyond economics: Those priced out of homeownership become part of a growing renter class that’s reshaping neighborhoods. “When people don’t feel ownership, they don’t feel as invested,” Zhao said.
In Oregon, new homebuyers made north of $120,000 in 2023, a 20% increase from 2019.
In counties there such as Lincoln, home prices have nearly doubled since the pandemic. And elsewhere in the Beaver State, other obstacles present, notably intensifying competition in Josephine County, where the NBC News Home Buyer Competition Index has stayed near its maximum level for almost a year.
Ryan Holley, 34, bought a home in suburban Portland, Oregon, in 2017, a time when the market was softer. Eight years later, his income has doubled, but his efforts to buy a new place have come up empty.
Holley moved from Oregon to the Las Vegas area in 2021, where he began a new hunt for a home. He immediately found himself priced out.
High mortgage rates posed one challenge. With his Oregon condo, he secured low rates, making his monthly mortgage $858. Today, even though he’s earning more than $130,000 a year, he’s hard-pressed to find a home with payments in his budget.
In the Las Vegas metro area, new homebuyers made an average of about $115,000, according to the analysis of Census Bureau data.
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