Rising home prices and interest rates didn’t knock metro Phoenix off a new top 10 list of most affordable big cities for homebuyers.
The Valley ranked No. 7, up a spot from last year, on a list from national mortgage research firm HSH.com.
A homebuyer needs to earn about $46,000 to afford a median-priced home in the Phoenix area.
That’s up about $1,785 from a year ago due to a more than 6 percent jump in Valley home prices and a 0.4 percent increase in interest rates.
The formula is based on buyers using a 20 percent down payment, which can be tough to come up with for many.
To afford a $236,000 house in the Valley with a 10 percent down payment, a buyer needs to earn $54,000 a year.
Relatively affordable home prices, particularly for the west, have spurred metro Phoenix’s growth for decades. New home communities with more affordable prices are now going up again on the Valley's fringes and drawing buyers.
Pittsburgh is the U.S.’s most affordable big housing market. There, a buyer only has to make about $32,000 to purchase a house.
Phoenix ranks right below Atlanta and above Tampa for housing affordability.
The least affordable city is San Francisco, where a buyer must earn more than $160,000 to afford a house for $837,500.
