US families need to earn a staggering 80% more than they did in 2020 to 'comfortably afford' a home nowadays — despite the median income only going up 23% in that time

That’s an 80% jump from January 2020, when the typical household needed to earn just $59,000 a year to comfortably afford a home. This surge in cost is attributed to higher prices and borrowing costs.

Still, some buyers haven’t lost hope just yet — and are pursuing creative pathways to purchase their first homes.

Homeownership is hurtling out of reach

Zillow notes the median U.S. household income in 2020 was around $66,000 — enough for more than half of households to afford a home at the time. The report estimates a typical household nowadays earns $81,000, based on data from Moody’s Analytics and the federal government.

It seems the rising cost of homeownership has outpaced salary increases, with mortgage rates hovering at around 6.6%, while the typical home is now worth around $343,000, per the digital real-estate platform.

“Housing costs have soared over the past four years as drastic hikes in home prices, mortgage rates and rent growth far outpaced wage gains," Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist at Zillow, said in a press release.

"Buyers are getting creative to make a purchase pencil out, and long-distance movers are targeting less expensive and less competitive metros.”

Buyers are getting creative

Despite the financial obstacles of purchasing a home, some buyers are pursuing homeownership through unconventional methods.

For example, some young Americans are partnering up with friends​ or relatives instead of going solo while purchasing a home.