thanks for visiting cnnmoney.

We're no longer maintaining this page.

For the latest business news and markets data, please visit CNN Business

10 least affordable cities to buy a home

Looking to buy a home? You may want to skip these places. Prices are either so high or incomes so low that many families can't afford to buy homes here, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index.

San Francisco

gallery least affordable housing san francisco
  • Median home price: $659,000
  • Median income: $103,000
  • % of homes that are affordable: 31.4%

It's not just in San Francisco where home buying is expensive, many of the surrounding cities and towns -- like Sausalito, Berkeley and Daly City -- are extremely pricey as well.

Buying a home here would be made even harder if it weren't for the size of residents' paychecks. San Francisco is one of only a handful of metro areas where the median household income exceeds six figures thanks, in part, to its thriving tech sector. The area continues to spawn innovative social media and app companies, with Twitter, Instagram and Yelp among the recent successes to call the city home.

Related: Tips for buying a house

Yet while the sky-high paychecks make it easier for some people to afford the multimillion dollar asking prices in San Francisco, it's a much harder proposition for others who are pulling in a more modest wage.

Source: National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index
*The percentage of new and existing homes sold in that metro area that families earning the area's median income can afford based on standard mortgage underwriting criteria.
  @CNNMoney - Last updated November 29 2012 02:02 PM ET

Partner Offers

Find Homes For Sale

Real Estate Calculator
recalchome

Was my home a good investment?

Find out now

Personal Finance

Most Popular

LendingTree