Region ranks 6th in the nation for the highest costs, according to a NerdWallet report.
Financial burdens keep adding up for first-time home buyers, as the American dream of homeownership inches away more every day.
First-time home buyers ages 25 to 44 in metro Boston spent about 66 percent of their gross monthly income on housing payments in the second quarter this year, according to an analysis NerdWallet published on Sep. 3. NerdWallet put the average listing price in metro Boston as $883,614 with an estimated monthly payment of $6,751.
“Boston is one of the highest-priced housing markets in the country, so payments are going to be higher there on average,” said Elizabeth Renter, a senior economist at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. If buyers are willing to adjust their expectations on factors ranging from home features to location, she added, they are more likely to find a home “within a budget that fits the bill.”
On a national level, Americans belonging to the first-time home buyer age group spent 49 percent of their income on monthly housing payments in the second quarter of 2024.