U.S. housing affordability continues to erode, according to a new analysis by Zillow that puts the typical home’s value at $367,969. To comfortably cover mortgage payments on a property at that price, a household would need to earn almost $100,000 a year and arrive at closing with roughly $73,600 for a 20% down payment. That paycheck is about $17,670 higher than the national median income could command in 2020, when a median-earning family could still afford the same purchase. Separate research highlighted by the Wall Street Journal underscores the widening gap between earnings and home prices. It estimates buyers must now bring in around $127,000 a year to meet payments on a median-priced property, up sharply from $79,000 in 2021. The squeeze is weighing on demand: first-time purchasers fell to 1.1 million in 2024, 380,000 fewer than the prior year and nearly half their long-run average, the paper said. Local data point to even steeper hurdles. Realtor.com calculates that an average earner in Hawaii would need almost 29 years just to set aside a standard down payment. The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies puts the income required to buy the Boston area’s $734,000 median home at about $229,000, while a new survey of San Jose pegs the threshold above $547,000. Together, the figures illustrate how rising interest rates and persistent price growth are shutting millions of renters out of homeownership.