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The housing market has risen to record levels of unaffordability in many cities across America, but there are 10 in particular that you might want to avoid if you’re looking to buy.
Here’s where the math is most brutal right now.
Find Out: 18 States Where the Average House Still Costs Less Than $300K
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The Usual Suspects
Los Angeles has long been a poster child for home unaffordability, and things have only gotten worse since the pandemic. The median sale price sits at $1.049 million, according to Redfin, and the California Association of Realtors reported that that only 12% of L.A. County households could afford to buy the median-priced home in Q3 2025. Why so low? Because that qualification requires a minimum annual income of $240,400.
New York City is also frequently cited as being unaffordable, and part of the reason is that housing space is at a premium. The Census Bureau reported that NYC added 87,184 new residents in 2024 alone, the largest numeric gain of any U.S. city. Meanwhile, housing production stayed frozen. Per the National Association of Realtors' Housing Shortage Tracker, the NYC metro issued just one building permit for every 16 new jobs created in Q4 2024, the second-worst ratio in the country.
San Francisco, long one of the most unaffordable regions in the world, is technically off its 2022 peak. But that has provided little relief for homebuyers. Redfin reports that as of Oct. 2025, 58.5% of San Francisco homes sold above list price. That’s the highest rate of any major U.S. metro tracked.
As of November 2025, the San Diego Union Tribune reported that San Diego County had a median home price nearly nine times the median income. Coastal geography limits where new homes can go, and that constraint isn't going anywhere.
Seattle has a median home price around $879,000, or 100% above the national average, per Redfin. Despite one of the higher local median incomes in the country, HousingWire places the city's price-to-income ratio at 7.4, which is the fifth-worst nationally. Big tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft help drive Seattle’s economy, but they also keep drawing workers into a city with limited housing supply.
The Pandemic Boomtowns Still Paying the Price
Miami has a tendency to be more of a boom-and-bust region when it comes to housing, and currently, buyers are paying the price. The city exploded during the pandemic, drawing in remote workers with its beaches and lack of state income tax. But the problem is that supply is not keeping up with current demand. The NAR notes that in Q4 2024, the city issued just one building permit for every 14 new jobs created. Even worse, the city’s propensity for climate-related disasters will drive insurance premiums up 322% by 2055, according to First Street Foundation.
Boise, Idaho was another beneficiary of the pandemic in terms of attracting residents looking for affordable mountain living. But the days of calling Boise affordable are over. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said Boise was the nation's fastest-growing metropolitan area from 2020 to 2022. HousingWire reports the median list price still exceeds the national median by more than 31%.
The Cities That Were Supposed To Be the Answer
Portland had an ambitious target of building 6,000 housing units per year to address its shortage, according to the city's own Housing Production Strategy. But in 2024, it only permitted 1,624, less than one-third of that goal. Even worse, that represented a drop of almost 50% from the year before, per data from the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis. Meanwhile, Redfin puts the median home price at $534,000.
The Riverside-San Bernardino area of California may seem like a place with ample space to build plenty of housing. But Up for Growth's 2024 Housing Underproduction in the U.S. Report tags the region as leading the nation in housing underproduction as a percentage of existing stock. Prices may still seem reasonable compared with seven-digit coastal properties, but this price gap is precisely what draws more buyers, increasing the strain on supply.
Washington, D.C. nearly doubled its rate of population growth year over year in 2024, according to the Census Bureau. The NAR Housing Shortage Tracker highlights how the D.C. metro issues too few permits to keep up with job and population growth. As with other cities on the list, the result is more unaffordable housing inventory.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
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