Minimum Salary Around $100k to Afford a Home in LA

Using the National Association of Realtors’ data on housing affordability, Business Insider gathered a list of the US metro areas where the minimum salary required to qualify for a mortgage, after a 20 percent down payment, is highest. What they found was that the salary needed to qualify in the top-five metro areas — four of which are located in California — exceeds $100,000.

Here’s what it you need to be earning to buy in New York, Miami and Los Angeles.

The New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania metro areas ranked 13th overall in BI’s list. With a population of 20,182,305 and a median home cost of $414,000, the salary you need to buy is $76,613.

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida, metro area ranked down at number 20. With a much lower population of 6,012,331 and median home cost of $335,000 the salary a sunshine state buyer needs is $61,994.

Meanwhile in Los Angles-Long Beach-Glendale, California weighed in at number seven. The population is 10,170,292 and the median home cost was $514,000. That means that the salary you’ll needed to buy is $95,156.

If you were wondering about what metro area took the top spot, well, that would be San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California. The salary needed to buy there was calculated to be $218,996. 

TRD

Prime Units and Penthouses Available in DTLA

I mentioned in an earlier post, that in a market with low inventory, it's really hard not to settle. But settling is for short term holds. For a longer term hold on the property, it's best to snag a property that will still be desirable in any market.

Below are available condos that are desirable even in down markets, and why.

940 E. 2nd St #38 - $1.759M

Formerly "Barn Lofts"

WHY: Arts District location, historic pedigree, over 2300sf of space on multilevels, 

rare townhouse style home with parking included.

849 S Broadway

WHY: Historic core location bordering South Park and Fashion District, unique 

Mills Act building with unparalleled amenities for a historic building, attached parking.

#M1 - $1.13M

#202 - $799k

#206 - $799k

#512 - $1.358M

#1210 - $3.98M

PH#1 - $2.385M

PH#2 - $2.475M

PH#4 - $1.799M

1111 S. Grand Ave PH#6 - $1.375

WHY: Central within South Park, larger than average size lofts because it was one of the first ground-up developments in SouthPark, LEED certified building, 

nearby just about everything in DTLA, full amenities.

1850 Industrial #710 - $1.875M

Biscuit Company Lofts

WHY: Uber hot Arts District South, Mills Act building with historic pedigree, 

amenities and in-building parking.

2015 Median Prices Expected to Rise 5.8%

According to the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.), the housing median price is anticipated to increase by 5.8% in 2015. From 2013 to 2014, there was an increase of 11.8%, and DTLA was overall higher than the state average.

Median Price from Sep 2013 vs Sept 2014

Stats are out: The median home price in California was $428,290 back in September 2013. The median home price in September 2014 was $460,940. That's a 7.6 percent increase. And need I say again that interest rates are at an unprecedented low?