Six figures is what’s needed to find an affordable home in Portland. Affordability as experts state is based on the real estate industry standard of a mortgage payment as within 30% of pretax monthly income. And as median home values rise in the Portland metro area, and mortgage interest rates climb, so too are the incomes needed to meet that standard.
Data shows that in Beaverton, incomes range from $135,896 to afford a home at the median price of $520,302 in the Aloha area to $167,203 for a $640,348 home in the neighboring Hazeldale and Southwest Neighbors areas.
Many in the Portland area recognize this next place a the area where the rich ball players go. Lake Oswego includes two ZIP codes and buyers would need $189,953 to afford a $777,847 median home or as much as $285,966 to afford a median home of $1,171,015 in the lakeside ZIP code.
Take a look at homebuyers in Bend. There it would take incomes between $163,439 and $251,512 to afford a home in its four ZIP codes. In Salem, the range is between $96,402 and $131,813. Out at the coastal towns, buyers need to make at least $153,094 to afford a house in Newport.
But, how much does it cost to live in the big PDX? To afford a home in the 97210 zip code in Northwest Portland, which includes Forest Park, you would need an annual income of $212,041, based on median home values of $868,928. And, in the 97233 Southeast zip, an annual income of $107,931 allows you to live in a neighborhood with a median home value of $413,236.
