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The median home sale price in the US has jumped by nearly 30% since the end of 2019, hitting $420,000 this spring.
At a time of rising property values globally, the leap has been one of the most dramatic in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund.
And that’s not factoring in the added costs from higher interest rates, which now stand at roughly 7% for the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage that is typical in the US, up from about 3% in 2020.
Homebuyers today need an annual income of more than $100,000 - well above the country’s household median of about $75,000 - to comfortably afford a home in most places in the US, research firms such as Zillow and Bankrate say, and face monthly payments that have roughly doubled in just four years.
I joined the army before I was 18. I saved money while I was in Baghdad. My first house was 40k in 2006. I live in a small town in the middle of corn and soy fields. I have a union job. My wife and I are good about not blowing money. I put $20 bucks a week into different savings accounts to help pay for big expenses.