For all intents and purposes, Justin Norton did everything right.
After graduating from college, he worked to pay off his student loans and entered a career path that eventually led him to a six-figure salaried job as an operations manager for Washoe County’s Regional Medical Examiner’s Office.
He took every step to place himself in a financially secure position, keeping his credit score as high as possible and tucking away extra income for an eventual home down payment. He has limited purchases, kept day-to-day expenses low and taken a modest vacation only every once in a while.
At 35 years old, he now has a sizable nest egg for a down payment and feels ready to make the final step — purchasing a home.
But even with his advantages, Norton has toured numerous houses, placed himself on 200-person-long waitlists and experienced price hikes that have left him unable to find a home within his budget.
“It’s incredibly frustrating,” Norton said. “I have no idea how other people are doing it. It’s baffling to me. I can’t imagine being in that kind of situation.”
Justin Norton poses for a portrait in Reno on June 11, 2022. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)
As home values continue to hit record highs in the Silver State, a new report indicates that rental costs are outstripping most workers’ income, and about a quarter of Reno and Las Vegas’ workforces — including those in Norton’s occupation — cannot afford the mortgage payment on a median-valued home in those areas, assuming they were able to make a 3 percent or 10 percent down payment.
The report from Brookings Mountain West Bureau and the Lincy Institute at UNLV, released on Tuesday, combines housing and employment data from the National Housing Conference, a nonprofit dedicated to affordable housing awareness, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to examine housing affordability for the 10 most common occupations in Southern and Northern Nevada.
Though a 10 percent or 3 percent down payment may seem significant, many lenders require a down payment equal to 20 percent of a home’s purchase price. If a borrower cannot afford that amount, the lender will likely look at the loan as a riskier investment and require that the homebuyer take out additional private mortgage insurance.
General and operations managers rank first in the list of most common occupations for high annual wages, followed by registered nurses, truck drivers, office clerks and customer service representatives. But even the highest-paid positions have median salaries that are about $20,000 less than the annual income needed to afford a mortgage on a home with a 3 or 10 percent down payment in the two regions.
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