Report: Home ownership for millennials in Seattle? Still not affordable
Seattle's housing market has warmed up and cooled down a lot in the past few years, but no matter which way you crunch the numbers, it's still a bit on the pricey side.
It's especially a burden for millennials, who make up almost a quarter of the city's population -- the third-highest percentage behind San Diego and Austin -- according to a recent study by the insurance agency Fabric.
They ranked the 25 cities with the highest percentage of millennials on an index of affordability. Cities like Seattle fell below 0% affordability and cities like Columbus, Ohio ranked above it.
It's a simple term, but what did they mean by affordability?
The agency calculated the average millennial income for 240 of the largest metropolitan areas, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
They implemented their own maximum for what a millennial could afford on housing. Based on an assumption that they don't spend more than 28% of their income on it.
The maximum number -- or most expensive house millennials could afford -- was compared to the median Zillow Home Value Index for each city.
So take a metropolitan area like the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area. According to Fabric's calculations, the average millennial in Seattle earned a $59,051 income, and therefore could afford a $350,541 house.
Unfortunately, the median home price in Seattle was $489,700, according to Zillow. This landed Seattle at -28.4% on Fabric's affordability index -- in short, "highly unaffordable."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/report-home-ownership-for-millennials-in-seattle-still-not-affordable/ar-BBW7f5a
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