SEATTLE, Oct. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Teachers budgeting
the historical normi for housing will have an easier
time finding a home in some parts of California than in Salt Lake City or Portland, Ore., according to new Zillow
research.
Homes are cheaper in the middle of the country, but wages are
lower, too, and people who live there are accustomed to putting a
smaller percentage of their monthly income toward housing. That
means the markets with the cheapest homes aren't necessarily the
most affordable for every worker.
In Bakersfield, Calif., the
median home value is $166,300ii, and the average annual
teacher salary is $61,000 a
yeariii. Since people in Bakersfield are accustomed to spending 22
percent of their income on a house payment, a Bakersfield teacher could afford a
$310,000 home. In today's market,
that includes about 86 percent of the homes on the
marketiv – more than anywhere else in the
country.
Contrast that with a teacher in Salt
Lake City, Utah, where teachers make $38,000 a year and people historically spend the
same share -- 22 percent -- of their incomes on a mortgage payment.
There, teachers could buy a $195,000
home – meaning only about a quarter of the homes on the
Salt Lake City market would fall
within their budget.
"There's a lot more to home buying affordability than just the
cost of the home. Incomes vary a lot across the country – even
within the same occupation," said Zillow Chief Economist Dr.
Svenja Gudell. "There's also the
question of how much of your paycheck you're willing to put toward
a house payment, and finally, whether you can find a home in your
price range. Many potential buyers are checking all the right boxes
prior to buying a home – saving a healthy down payment, organizing
finances and qualifying for a loan – only to find there are few
homes available within their budget and close to their job."
Zillow's analysis of affordability by occupation found that
lawyers and judges could affordably buy almost every home on the
market in Buffalo and Syracuse, NY, but could afford only about 66
percent of the homes for sale in Stockton, Calif.
Firefighters, whose average salaries range wildly depending on
geography, could afford a $583,000
home in Seattle – or a
$167,000 home in Little Rock, Ark. Part of the reason for the
big difference is that people in Little
Rock have historically spent a smaller share of their income
on their house payment.
In the notoriously expensive San
Francisco metro area, food-service workersv could
afford less than 10 percent of the homes on the market, even if
they spend the market-norm of 37 percent of their income on the
monthly payment. Teachers could afford about a third of the
listings, while firefighters – who make almost as much as the
average lawyer there – could afford three-quarters of the homes for
sale in the area.
Teachersvi
|
Firefightersvii
|
Metro
|
Median
Income
|
Maximum
Home
Price
|
% of
Listings
in
Budget
|
Metro
|
Median
Income
|
Maximum
Home
Price
|
% of
Listings
in
Budget
|
Top
5
|
Top
5
|
Bakersfield,
CA
|
$ 61,000
|
$ 310,000
|
86.4%
|
Riverside,
CA
|
$ 107,000
|
$ 653,000
|
90.9%
|
Modesto,
CA
|
$ 57,000
|
$ 335,000
|
84.2%
|
Cleveland,
OH
|
$ 68,000
|
$ 319,000
|
89.2%
|
Buffalo,
NY
|
$ 50,000
|
$ 229,000
|
79.7%
|
Sacramento,
CA
|
$ 102,000
|
$ 715,000
|
89.2%
|
Stockton,
CA
|
$ 51,000
|
$ 332,000
|
79.5%
|
Toledo, OH
|
$ 77,000
|
$ 296,000
|
88.7%
|
Riverside,
CA
|
$ 56,000
|
$ 339,000
|
76.3%
|
Indianapolis,
IN
|
$ 68,000
|
$ 375,000
|
88.1%
|
Bottom
5
|
Bottom
5
|
Provo, UT
|
$ 32,000
|
$ 171,000
|
23.8%
|
Charlotte,
NC
|
$ 41,000
|
$ 180,000
|
44.1%
|
Salt Lake City,
UT
|
$ 38,000
|
$ 195,000
|
26.3%
|
Richmond,
VA
|
$ 54,000
|
$ 228,000
|
49.7%
|
Virginia Beach,
VA
|
$ 41,000
|
$ 177,000
|
26.7%
|
Augusta,
GA
|
$ 45,000
|
$ 148,000
|
51.0%
|
Portland,
OR
|
$ 40,000
|
$ 213,000
|
28.5%
|
Charleston,
SC
|
$ 56,000
|
$ 258,000
|
52.5%
|
Charleston,
SC
|
$ 37,000
|
$ 170,000
|
30.4%
|
Nashville,
TN
|
$ 45,000
|
$ 198,000
|
53.0%
|
Lawyers and
Judgesviii
|
Construction
Workersix
|
Metro
|
Median
Income
|
Maximum
Home
Price
|
% of
Listings
in
Budget
|
Metro
|
Median
Income
|
Maximum
Home
Price
|
% of
Listings
in
Budget
|
Top
5
|
Top
5
|
Buffalo,
NY
|
$ 89,000
|
$ 403,000
|
94.7%
|
Buffalo,
NY
|
$ 35,000
|
$ 159,000
|
63.2%
|
Syracuse,
NY
|
$ 105,000
|
$ 436,000
|
94.5%
|
Toledo, OH
|
$ 37,000
|
$ 142,000
|
61.4%
|
Dayton, OH
|
$ 87,000
|
$ 351,000
|
93.8%
|
Akron, OH
|
$ 35,000
|
$ 152,000
|
59.7%
|
Scranton,
PA
|
$ 98,000
|
$ 414,000
|
93.3%
|
Cleveland,
OH
|
$ 30,000
|
$ 141,000
|
56.7%
|
Grand Rapids,
MI
|
$ 104,000
|
$ 405,000
|
93.3%
|
Las Vegas,
NV
|
$ 30,000
|
$ 176,000
|
54.7%
|
Bottom
5
|
Bottom
5
|
Springfield,
MA
|
$ 29,000
|
$ 165,000
|
36.8%
|
Portland,
OR
|
$ 27,000
|
$ 142,000
|
9.2%
|
Honolulu,
HI
|
$ 70,000
|
$ 601,000
|
63.4%
|
Colorado Springs,
CO
|
$ 20,000
|
$ 101,000
|
9.9%
|
Stockton,
CA
|
$ 37,000
|
$ 246,000
|
66.5%
|
Salt Lake City,
UT
|
$ 28,000
|
$ 145,000
|
10.9%
|
Charleston,
SC
|
$ 84,000
|
$ 385,000
|
66.5%
|
Houston,
TX
|
$ 24,000
|
$ 84,000
|
12.0%
|
Worcester,
MA
|
$ 58,000
|
$ 306,000
|
66.9%
|
Virginia Beach,
VA
|
$ 30,000
|
$ 128,000
|
12.1%
|
About Zillow
Zillow® is the leading real estate and rental marketplace
dedicated to empowering consumers with data, inspiration and
knowledge around the place they call home, and connecting them with
the best local professionals who can help. In addition, Zillow
operates an industry-leading economics and analytics bureau led by
Zillow's Chief Economist Dr. Svenja
Gudell. Dr. Gudell and her team of economists and data
analysts produce extensive housing data and research covering more
than 450 markets at Zillow Real Estate Research. Zillow also
sponsors the quarterly Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey, which
asks more than 100 leading economists, real estate experts and
investment and market strategists to predict the path of the Zillow
Home Value Index over the next five years. Zillow also sponsors the
bi-annual Zillow Housing Confidence Index (ZHCI) which measures
consumer confidence in local housing markets, both currently and
over time. Launched in 2006, Zillow is owned and operated by Zillow
Group (NASDAQ: Z and ZG), and headquartered in Seattle.
Zillow is a registered trademark of Zillow, Inc.
i The study assumed people would budget the
percentage of their income that house payments typically cost
between 1985 and 1999. It also assumed a 20 percent down
payment.
ii The Zillow Home Value Index is the median estimated
home value for a given geographic area on a given day and includes
the value of all single-family residences, condominiums and
cooperatives, regardless of whether they sold within a given
period. It is expressed in dollars, and seasonally adjusted.
iii Income data in this study is based on Zillow
analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2012 and 2013
American Community Surveys, and the 2012-2014 Annual Socio-economic
Supplements to the Current Population Survey, made available by the
University of Minnesota,
IPUMS-USA.
iv This analysis used listings active on Zillow on
Sept. 1, 2015.
v Food-service workers in the census dataset include
food preparation and serving workers, including fast food, counter
attendants, cafeteria, food concession and coffee shop workers,
food servers, waiters and waitresses.
vi Teachers are defined in the census dataset as K-12
teachers, including preschool, technical education, and special
education teachers.
vii Firefighters are defined in the census dataset as
firefighters, fire inspectors and investigators, and forest fire
inspectors and prevention specialists.
viii Lawyers and judges in the census dataset include
administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers,
arbitrators, mediators and conciliators, judges and magistrates,
judicial law clerks and lawyers.
ix Construction workers are defined in the census
dataset as boilermakers, brickmasons, carpenters, carpet
installers, construction laborers, cement and concrete workers,
drywall installers, electricians, floor layers, sanders and
finishers, glaziers, insulation workers, operating engineers,
painters, paperhangers, pavers, pile driver operators, pipelayers,
plumbers, roofers, sheet metal workers, solar photovoltaic
installers, stonemasons, structural iron and steel workers, tapers,
terrazzo workers and finishers, and tile and marble setters.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/teachers-can-afford-more-homes-in-la-than-in-salt-lake-city-300156442.html
SOURCE Zillow