The monthly mortgage payment (P&I) for purchases of the median priced existing U.S. home (NAR) with a 20% down payment & average 30-year mortgage rate was $2,351 in August 2023 – up 140.6% since March 2020.
The average hourly rate for all U.S. employees (BLS) has risen 21.7% since March 2020.
Here in my neck of the woods (San Diego), the minimum household income needed to buy the median priced existing home is ~ $275,000 per year.
How the Times have Changed
When I graduated from UCLA in 1969, I could have landed a good entry-level job in San Diego and bought a nice 3 BR home less than one mile from the beach in the town I grew up in for ~ $60,000.
Chart courtesy of Michael McDonough (Twitter)
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