DENVER – Stop us if we’re starting to sound like a broken record: Denver is one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the country.
A new report from Point2Homes that looked at housing markets in the 50 biggest cities in North America found that not only is Denver among the most expensive in the United States; it’s also one of the most unaffordable real estate markets on the continent.
The Mile High City ranks 14th among major U.S. metropolitan areas on Point2Homes’ list, with Manhattan, New York taking the title of least affordable. San Francisco was a close second.
Overall, Point2Homes found that Canada was more unaffordable than the United States, with Vancouver, British Columbia being the most expensive city in North America. Denver ranked 18th on that list.
To measure affordability, Point2Homes calculated the “median multiple” for major cities by dividing the median home sale price by the median annual family income. The bigger the ratio, the longer it would theoretically take to pay off a home.
With a median home price of $385,000 and median income of $58,003, Denver had a median multiple of 6.6.
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Point2Home considered any median multiple higher than 3.0 unaffordable, with ratios of 5.1 and higher being considered “severely unaffordable.” The only U.S. city that came in under 3.0 was Detroit, which had a median multiple of 1.8.
To read the full report, log on to point2homes.com.
