Here’s the Minimum Income Needed To Buy a $500K Home in 2026

The scenery for homebuyers has been shifting implicit the past fewer years. Going into 2026, with owe involvement rates yet dropping a small and location prices holding steady, caller homebuyers whitethorn beryllium wondering what chances they person to bargain their imagination home.

Learn More: How Much House Does $300K, $400K and $500K Buy You successful Every State?

Read Next: How Middle-Class Earners Are Quietly Becoming Millionaires — and How You Can, Too

For homebuyers looking to interruption into the $500,000 people for a home, here’s what income you’ll need, and what other you request to know.

The National Association of Realtors acknowledged that owe rates volition beryllium 1 of the cardinal factors that holds immoderate buyers backmost successful 2026. While the 30-year fixed-rate mean did travel down from astir 7% aboriginal successful the twelvemonth to astir 6.24% successful November, 1 of the NAR’s main economists, Lawrence Yun, believes rates whitethorn driblet each the mode to 6% successful 2026.

If 2026 follows 2025’s patterns, it won’t favour the first-time homebuyer, the NAR reported. While the lodging marketplace has seen immoderate dips, evidenced by an uptick successful foreclosures, it suggested that overall, the marketplace volition apt retrieve successful 2026 — but not for each income level.

For anyone hoping to bargain into a $500,000 location oregon higher, your finances volition request to beryllium coagulated and tightly dialed in.

Check Out: I’m a Real Estate Agent: 7 Places To Avoid Buying a House successful 2026

Let’s look astatine the numbers. If we presume a 6.24% owe rate, a $500,000 location with 20% down produces a monthly outgo (principle positive interest) of astir $2,460. Add astir $458 for spot taxes, $150 to $200 for homeowners’ security and $150 to $300 successful backstage owe security (PMI) if you enactment down little than 20%. That typically puts the full outgo betwixt $3,000 and $3,200-plus per period successful 2026.

To estimation the income required for a $500,000 location successful 2026, lenders look intimately astatine your debt-to-income ratios. Freddie Mac notes that “the monthly lodging expense-to-income ratio should not beryllium greater than 28%,” which means a emblematic $3,200 lodging outgo requires astir $11,430 successful monthly income, oregon astir $137,000 a year.

Now erstwhile looking astatine full debt, the CFPB states that “the consumer’s ratio of full monthly indebtedness to full monthly income (DTI) indispensable not transcend 43%.” With adjacent $500 successful different monthly indebtedness added to that $3,200 monthly lodging payment, that makes the required income to astir $103,000 annually. So, successful essence, astir homebuyers would request an income of $110,000 to $140,000 depending connected credit, indebtedness load and wide fiscal strength.