A new report from the Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies breaks down the shocking details.

The report is impressive and thorough. But let's break down what you really need to know. How much money do you need to make to live in the largest cities in Maine? Let's start with Portland.

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Portland-South Portland:

  • Income required to purchase a median-priced home    -    $130,006
  • median-priced home                                                      -    $472,790
  • estimated mortgage                                                       -    $2,444
  • estimated total payment                                                 -    $3,358

The housing crisis is real with costs still climbing. According to the Harvard report, home price appreciation nationwide hit 20.6 percent in March 2022, the biggest jump in three decades, and it's still going up.

 

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Lewiston-Auburn:

  • Income required to purchase a median-priced home    -    $78,811
  • median-priced home                                                      -    $286,609
  • estimated mortgage                                                      -    $1,482
  • estimated total payment                                                 -    $2,036
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Augusta-Waterville:

  • Income required to purchase a median-priced home    -    $73,405
  • median-priced home                                                      -    $266,951
  • estimated mortgage                                                      -    $1,380
  • estimated total payment                                                 -    $1,896
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Bangor:

  • Income required to purchase a median-priced home    -    $66,164
  • median-priced home                                                      -    $240,618
  • estimated mortgage                                                      -    $1,244
  • estimated total payment                                                 -    $1,709

The sticker shock of what you need to make for what you have to pay is bad. But it's not the worst in the country. It appears that is reserved for out west and Massachusetts. Here are the top 10 metro areas requiring the highest annual income to afford a median-priced home.

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Chris Herbert, the managing director of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies told the Boston Globe,

If you’re a homeowner, you just won the lottery. And if you’re not, you just got locked out for a long time.

The good news and even the report shows this, it can't last forever. The report predicts that over the long term, though, housing demand will dramatically decline thanks to the population growth. Birth rates have fallen, death rates have risen, and immigration has slowed to a 'trickle'. It's just a matter of if you can wait it out.

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