affordability gaps
San Antonio buyers must earn this much more to afford a starter home in 2023
This friendly starter home is listed for $219,000 on Estately.
An income analysis by online real estate brokerage Redfin has revealed just how much more a potential homeowner needs to make this year to afford a "starter home" in San Antonio, a concept that's becoming seemingly less attainable with rising mortgage rates and increased competition among buyers.
The report revealed that first-time homebuyers need to earn $55,657 annually to afford a San Antonio home in 2023, which is 18.7 percent more income than was required in 2022.
According to Redfin, the average salary needed for a typical starter home in the United States is $64,403, about 13 percent more than a year ago. San Antonio is $8,746 behind that number.
These findings further confirm that affordability is one of the biggest struggles for potential buyers in the current real estate market.
What was considered a generous salary to afford a home in San Antonio a year ago is no longer the case, as median sale prices are sitting at $210,000, and median mortgage payments are about $1,391 a month, the report said. However, the analysis indicated that home sales in the city have risen a lot since this time last year: 11.6 percent.
Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari said in the report that it's a "wild goose chase" for homebuyers seeking their first home in the current market.
"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," he said. "That’s locking many Americans out of the housing market altogether, preventing them from building equity and ultimately building lasting wealth. People who are already homeowners are sitting pretty, comparatively, because most of them have benefited from home values soaring over the last few years."
Bokhari predicted the wealth gap between current and potential owners could become "even more drastic" if current trends continue.
Things escalated faster in San Antonio than anywhere else, but it's still relatively affordable overall, with the least expensive houses in the state. Next was Houston, where a first-time homebuyer would need to make $57,513, which is nearly 14 percent more than in 2022.
The necessary income in Fort Worth has also risen by 14.4 percent, amounting to $64,933. People in Dallas need to make quite a bit more, settling at $72,885 after a 10.6 percent increase. In Austin, potential homeowners saw a 3.3 percent decrease in income needed to afford a home, but it's still the highest income required out of all Texas cities in the report: $92,057.
The full report can be found on redfin.com.
