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In a recent article from HSH.com, a mortgage research website, reports that in order to afford a home in the Los Angeles area of $450,900, based on NAR (National Association of REALTORS®) median home price for 2014 fourth quarter, with 20% down payment, it would take a salary of nearly $90,000.

According to California Association of REALTORS, car.org, median home price for Los Angeles during that same period was $464,650. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll continue with the NAR median price. With a 30 year fix rate (including principal, interest, taxes and insurance, the latter two are variables) and 20% down, monthly mortgage payments would be approximately $2,100. Of course, you could choose to put less money down, but that would change things drastically as it would now include PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance), which would increase your mortgage payments substantially.

Source: The salary you must earn to buy a home in 27 metros (HSH.com, Feb 20, 2015).