THE BIG FINISH
WRAP YOUR HEAD AROUND THE MARKET'S LEADING INDICATORS
96
AFTER THE MORTGAGE PAYMENT ...
These cities have homeowners with the most and least income left over after paying their mortgage.
How much home can a buyer afford in the current market? A good yardstick to determine this would be
the income left over for a household once it has paid its mortgage dues.
According to a Zillow analysis, in Q4 2018 a mortgage payment on the typical U.S. home required 17.5
percent of a household's median income. While this was up from 2017's 15.4 percent, it was still below the
historic average of 21 percent from the late 1980s and '90s.
But, in some of the largest metros in the country, this share could be much higher. The Zillow analysis
which looked at the median annual gross income and mortgage payment of homeowners in the country's
largest metros found that households in Washington, D.C. had the most money left over after they pay their
mortgage. D.C. residents, the analysis found had almost $7,000 of their monthly income remaining after
paying for their house.
Source: "Zillow: Where Do Households Have the Most Money After Housing?"
THE TOP 10 METROS WHERE HOMEOWNERS HAVE
THE MOST MONEY LEFTOVER AFTER MORTGAGE PAYMENTS
CITY
ANNUAL AMOUNT
WASHINGTON, DC $83,642
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS $67,165
MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA $66,794
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND $66,463
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA $62,335
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON $61,931
AUSTIN, TEXAS $61,660
DENVER, COLORADO $60,569
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS $60,395
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA $60,116
