Baltimore Housing
June 18th, 2010A buyer making a 10 percent down payment would need to earn $70,000 a year to afford the Baltimore area’s median home price of $235,000, according to a report released Tuesday by the Center for Housing Policy. Police and elementary school teachers make about $52,000, the nonprofit research group said. Nurses earn about $41,000.
Among the 208 metro areas the center studied, Baltimore Homes prices were tied for 29th most expensive - more than in Philadelphia, ranked 36th at $227,000, and far more than in Detroit, one of the least expensive at $86,000. The report looked at sale prices during the last three months of 2009. For more on this report see www.ngrealtygroup.com with Nick Gioia.
"Home price drops have made homeownership more affordable for some workers, but a lot of workers in a lot of jobs are still priced out," said Maya Brennan, a senior research associate at the center.
A dearth of affordable housing was part of the corrosive brew that threw the nation into financial meltdown in 2008, see NG Realty Group for housing in Baltimore Maryland. As prices skyrocketed earlier in the decade, buyers stretched their budgets to get in the door. Defaults and foreclosures followed.
