Exclusive | NYC now ranks as the hardest place to buy a home for first-time buyers
New Yorkers hoping to buy their first home may need to start saving decades before they get the keys.New York City is the hardest major market in America for first-time buyers to scrape together a down payment, with a typical household needing a staggering 65.2 years to save enough, according to a new analysis from Rocket.The median first-time buyer in the Big Apple puts down $265,000 — a 30% of the $883,333 purchase price, the analysis found.That puts New York well ahead of even notoriously expensive California markets.In San Francisco, a typical household would need 57.2 years to save the median $400,000 down payment, equivalent to roughly 27% of a $1.5 million purchase.Los Angeles came in third, requiring 41.5 years to accumulate its $170,500 median down payment on an $852,500 home.Boston followed at 37.8 years, with first-time buyers typically putting $185,000 down, while Anaheim and San Jose, both in pricey California, tied at 33.6 years.First-time buyers in San Jose put down a median $249,000 on a roughly $1.1 million purchase.The calculation assumes a household saves 5% of its income every year.
Rocket combined 2024 Census household-income data with down payments made by its first-time buyer mortgage customers between May 2025 and May 2026.That means the eye-popping 65-year figure isn’t how long New Yorkers actually spend saving.Rather, it illustrates just how far the typical household’s income is from the amount first-time buyers are putting down in the city.In New York, the median household income used in the analysis was $81,228, meaning saving 5% annually would amount to just over $4,000 a year.The picture changes dramatically hundreds of miles west.In Warren, Michigan, the median first-time buyer puts down just $8,797, or 5% of the $175,940 purchase price.
A typical household could theoretically save that amount in only 3.1 years.Nearby Detroit was second-fastest at 3.9 years, where buyers put down a median $7,600 — also about 5% — on a $152,...