While the annual income needed to afford to purchase a home in New York City was still significantly higher than the national average in August 2024, there was a large decrease year-over-year, thanks in large part to mortgage rates declining, according to a report by the real estate listing site StreetEasy.
Based on U.S. Census data used in the study, the minimum income needed to buy a home in New York City was $211,970 in August 2024. While this number is nearly three times more than the national market, it still presents a significant improvement from a year ago. This new minimum income is over $10,000 less than the $222,595 needed in August 2023.
One of the biggest factors in such a large drop year-over-year in the needed minimum income is that the 30-year mortgage rate dropped to a 16-month low during the last week of August 2024, going just under 6.5%. Even with asking prices still being high, prospective buyers now have more power thanks to the drop in mortgage rates.
The report indicated that buyers will continue to gain more negotiating power in New York City in the coming months as more homes reach the market. Price cuts are much more common than last year, which is a sign that asking prices in New York City may have already reached their peak and will trend down.
When it comes to the income needed to afford a home in each borough, Manhattan had the highest median price, at $308,449. The next-highest was Brooklyn, at $212,375, closest to the city’s average among all boroughs. Staten Island was third, at $151,483. Queens was right behind Staten Island at $136,527. The Bronx had the lowest median price, at just $73,826.
Even after a $10,625 drop in the minimum income needed to buy a median-priced home in New York City, the cost is still very high. This also extends to the income needed for a home in the lower third of the city’s real estate market, at $94,861. This annual household income encompasses approximately 39% of all New York City households.
Staten Island had the highest median income needed among the boroughs for homes in the lower third of the real estate market, at $116,705, edging out second-place Manhattan’s $110,233. Brooklyn was right in the middle, at $95,063. As was the case for the overall median income needed, Queens and the Bronx had the lowest required income necessary to buy a home in the bottom third of the real estate market, at $79,893 and $56,229, respectively.
