Study: The income needed to buy a home in the Bay Area has doubled in five years

Study: The income needed to buy a home in the Bay Area has doubled in five years By Amy Graff, SFGATE Updated 9:32 pm, Tuesday, August 15, 2017 A home for sale in San Francisco where the median-price on a single-family home is $1.45 million.Keep clicking for the 20 least affordable places to live in the U.S., according to Forbes. Photo: Michael Noble Jr., The Chronicle Photo: Michael Noble Jr., The Chronicle A home for sale in San Francisco where the median-price on a single-family home is $1.45 million. Keep clicking for the 20 least affordable places to live in the U.S., according to Forbes. The most arresting data point in a new report from the California Association of Realtors reveals that the income needed to buy a median-priced single-family home in the Bay Area has nearly doubled in five years. Back in 2012, a minimum annual income of $90,370 was needed to purchase a Bay Area home at the median price of $447,970. Now, a home buyer needs to be bringing in $179,390 to afford a mean-priced house at $895,000, the report looking at second-quarter 2017 home sales data concludes. This reality of skyrocketing real estate prices might seem rather unfair to those of us who haven't seen our salaries shoot through the roof. If you're trying to save for a home, it can be difficult to keep up with the rising prices unless you're receiving significant raises at work. Before you house-hunt, you've got to answer two questions. How much house can you afford, and how much house should you actually buy? And even if you do achieve that golden salary of $179,390, don't expect it to get you anything within San Francisco city limits where the median-priced home costs a staggering $1.45 million and requires a salary of $290,630. In fact, according to the report, only 12 percent of buyers in the city can actually afford a median-priced single-family home. The outlook is also rather grim in San Mateo (14 percent ), Marin (17 percent), Santa Clara (17 percent) and Alameda (19 percent) counties, all among the least affordable spots in the Bay Area. Solano County was the most affordable with 44 percent of buyers being able to purchase a median-priced home of $412,000 with a salary of $82,580. Here 44 percent of buyers can afford a home. Sonoma and Napa ranked the second most affordable with 25 percent of home buyers able to buy a home.