TAMPA, Fla. — It’s possible to comfortably buy a Florida home in 2024, but it will be a high mountain to climb given rising home prices and continued low inventory, according to a recent study.
A Bankrate study found that a Florida homebuyer must make at least $114,771 a year to afford a median-priced home of about $403,500, which is a 57% increase within the last couple of years.
In January 2020, you only had to make about $73,000 to comfortably afford a home in the state, according to Bankrate’s analysis.
Just two months ago, home prices in Florida increased almost 5% from last year, while the amount of homes sold increased 1.8%, according to real estate company Redfin.
These findings are merely a continuation of last year’s trends.
A study done by Florida Atlantic University in 2023 found the Sunshine State had nine out of the top 15 "most overvalued and steadily rising metro areas" in the country, according to previous coverage.
Bankrate also found Hawaii demands the most annually at about $185,800, while Ohio demands about $64,000 annually to afford a median-priced home in 2024.
Morale is also low for aspiring homeowners as twenty percent of them felt they would never be able to save enough to purchase a home, according to Bankrate’s Down Payment Survey.
The study directly compares its findings in 2024 to annual income needed to afford a median-priced home in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia in 2020.
Bankrate says it calculated monthly mortgage payments by using its mortgage calculator, which factors in a 20% down payment, average property state taxes and homeowner insurance rates from at least the last 4 years. HOA fees or private mortgage insurance were not factored into its calculations.
"The annual income needed to afford a median-price home is based on a person spending no more than 28% of their annual income on housing, as per the traditional 28/36 rule," the study reads.