Buying a home is more expensive now because of COVID-19. A report says people need to earn $114,627 to buy a typical home in the U.S. That's 15% more than last year and 50% more than before the pandemic. It's the highest amount ever needed to buy a home.

The average American household makes about $40,000 less than the cost of a home. Homes in East Coast cities are usually more expensive than in other parts of the country.

Home prices going up and mortgage rates being very high are the main reasons why it's harder for people to afford homes.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage is 6.9%, which is lower than it was in 2023 when it was over 8%. But it's still really high and makes monthly payments more expensive.

In August 2023, the cost of a regular house in the United States was about $420,000. This is 3% more than the previous year and only about $12,000 less than the highest price ever recorded in mid-2022.

This list shows how much it costs to buy a home in different cities on the East Coast, and how much money you need to make each year to afford it.

These are some cities in the United States and how much money you would need to make each year to afford a house there. The higher the home value, the more money you would need to earn to buy a house in that city. So, in some cities, you would need to earn a lot more money to buy a house compared to other cities where you would need less money to buy a house.