Have kids? Good luck buying a house this year

foxbusiness.com:

'Mansion Global' host Katrina Campins has the latest on the real estate market on 'The Bottom Line.'

Families with kids are being boxed out of the increasingly unaffordable U.S. housing market as the cost of both a new mortgage and child care soar higher. 

A recent study published by Zillow found that potential homebuyers with children are likely to spend 66% of their income on monthly mortgage payments and child care, a sharp increase from about 50% in 2019.

The typical American family can expect to spend about $1,984 per month on child care and $1,973 on a monthly mortgage payment (based on an interest rate of 6.6%). With the monthly median household income hovering around $6,640, that leaves just $2,683 for other necessary expenses, including food, health care, insurance, transportation, retirement savings and education.

A home for sale in Cupertino, California, on Feb. 7, 2024. (Photographer: Loren Elliott/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The general rule of thumb is that housing should cost no more than 30% of a person's monthly income, while the Department of Health and Human Services recommends that families spend no more than 7% of their income on child care expenses.

But the typical household exceeds these guidelines in every market that Zillow analyzed, a trend that underscores how far out of reach the American dream has become for millions of families.

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In fact, in 31 of the largest 50 metropolitan areas with available child care cost data, families looking to buy a home can expect to spend more than 60% of their income on their mortgage and child care expenses.

The cost burden is even worse in some parts of the country. Parents in Los