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DC-Area First-Time Buyers Need to Earn 12% More Than Last Year to Afford Starter Home, Per Report

  • July 31st 2023

by UrbanTurf Staff

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Rising interest rates, low supply and increasing home prices have combined to make it tougher for first-time buyers to break into the DC-area housing market. 

Redfin recently found that, in order to afford a "starter home" in the DC region, first-time homebuyers need to have an income of approximately $91,000, nearly 12% higher than 2022. 

The problem with the term "starter home" however is that, in many ways, those no longer exist in the U.S. housing market. 

starter-home.jpg
Click to enlarge.

"“Buyers searching for starter homes in today’s market are on a wild goose chase because in many parts of the country, there’s no such thing as a starter home anymore,” said Redfin Senior Economist Sheyaryar Bokhari. “The most affordable homes for sale are no longer affordable to people with lower budgets due to the combination of rising prices and rising rates."

In the DC region, the median price of a starter home was pegged at just below $350,000. To put that in perspective, here is what that price point bought you in the DC area as of last year. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc-area_first-time_buyers_need_to_earn_12_more_than_last_year_to_afford_sta/21319.

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