Saving for a Bay Area down payment?
Saving for a Bay Area down payment? This is how long it could take New study looks at down payments across the nation Resolving to become a homeowner in the next few years? Buyers in places like St. Louis and Tampa need only to save a modest amount to make that goal a reality. But in the Bay Area, you’ll need a stash. According to a new analysis from Realtor.com, would-be homeowners in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward metro area need to sock away $3,379 a month for five years to cobble together a median down payment of $212,000. If that gives you sticker shock, forget the South Bay. In the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area, where the median home goes for more than $1 million, homebuyers are putting down an average of $265,000. That requires saving $4,224 every month for five years or a whopping $7,170 each month for three years. And those figures don’t account for any potential change in home prices. So if the market accelerates, those amount...