If you want to live in one of the most expensive housing markets in the country then look to the West Coast for your housing search.
Out of the top ten cities that require the highest salary to buy a home, the top four are in California, according to analysis by HSH.com. San Jose, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles require a higher salary than anywhere else and this is just to cover all the monthly expenses associated with a mortgage—not utilities or upkeep.
The analysis looked at the median housing prices then factored in principal, interest, taxes and insurance for a 30-year fixed mortgage, assuming a 20% down payment. They also kept to the criteria that housing not take up more than 28% of household income.
(Click on map to expand and see prices by city)
The cost information website How Much put the data in the handy visualization above to show how stark the differences are between each coast. Boston ranks as the most expensive city on the East Coast, but only two other cities on that side of the country—New York City and Washington D.C.—make the top ten.
It's worth noting that the cities with extremely high density, such as New York, have a lot more homes in multi-family buildings so the median price is going to be lower because they have a smaller square footage (even though the price per square foot may be higher). But still, to have San Jose be more than twice as much as New York City doesn't just come down to comparing mansions to tiny shoebox apartments. Even when you compare San Jose to Los Angeles the price spread is more than double. It shows how much of a stronghold the tech world has on Northern California and its tech-city cousins of Seattle and Portland.
Here are the top ten most expensive places to buy a home in the U.S.:
1. San Jose, CA: $274,623
2. San Francisco, CA: $213,727
3. San Diego, CA: $130,986
4. Los Angeles, CA: $114,908
5. Boston, MA: $109,411
6. Seattle, WA: $109,275
7. New York City, NY: $103,235
8. Washington, DC: $96,144
9. Denver, CO: $93,263
10. Portland, OR: $85,369
Do the prices ring true for your experiences where you live? Email me and let me know amydobsonre@gmail.com or chime in on Twitter @amydobsonRE
