San Francisco continued its reign atop HSH.com's list of salaries needed in 27 metro areas to afford a median-priced home in the first quarter, this time requiring an income of just $141,416, down nearly $1,000 from the previous quarter.
Cleveland, however, returned to its status as the most affordable of the 27 metro areas, due to its mortgage rate of 3.82%, down 23 basis points, and a nearly 13% drop in home prices. The Ohio city also had the second-largest decline in required salary, by more than $2,600, to $29,394.
In Denver, required salaries to buy a median-priced home rose by nearly $3,000, the highest on the list. Florida cities, including Orlando, Miami and Tampa saw significant raises as well. San Diego, Sacramento and Phoenix also observed increases in needed salaries, albeit smaller ones. As in the fourth quarter, salaries fell the most quarter-to-quarter in Los Angeles, this time by $4,500.
While the biggest decline in home prices occurred in Cleveland, many other cities experienced notable decreases, including Baltimore at a 4.33% drop. Denver saw the biggest jump, meanwhile, at 7.4%, which helped contribute to its marked salary growth.
The HSH.com survey used the National Association of Realtors' 2015 first-quarter data for median home prices and its own first-quarter average interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage to determine the results.
