New York Housing Is Only Nation’s Fourth Most Expensive

You think New York City housing is the most expensive in the nation? Fuggedaboutit. Metropolitan New York comes in a lowly fourth in rankings of the income required to afford a “modest” home in American cities.

A quarterly study by the mortgage research group HSH indicates that a New Yorker needs to earn $95,729 a year to afford a “modest” home, the New York Post reports. That’s a pittance compared to the scratch required in the San Francisco Bay area ($161,000) or San Diego ($111,665), though not far from third-place Southern California ($98,542). Boston placed fifth at $91,419.

While co-ops still far outnumber condos in New York City’s five boroughs, recent condo sales – particularly at the high end – have surpassed co-ops by a wide margin.

The income needed to buy a “modest” home in New York in the first three months of this year jumped 3.3 percent from the last quarter of 2016. HSH vice president Keith Gumbinger speculated that first-quarter bump could have been driven by the region’s mild winter, which brought more buyers to the market than usual. The New York metro region in the HSH survey included Long Island, Rockland, Putnam and Orange Counties. It also encompasses nearby and far-flung New Jersey counties Essex, Union, Passaic, Bergen, Middlesex, Morris, Sussex, Hunterdon, Monmouth and Ocean.

According to Gumbinger, homebuyers can find deals if they’re willing to commute. “There’s a 30-mile window (around New York) where you can find some fairly reasonable (prices). You may have to spend time on the Metro-North, or in a car going over the Tappan Zee or, God help you, over the George Washington Bridge,” says Gumbinger, who is based in New Jersey and knows a thing or two about New York commuting. “There are opportunities. The question is, can you deal with the commute?”

Penn Station, anyone?