Study shows Bay Area homes are more affordable to men than women

New study looks at how gender pay gap affects home buying in San Francisco

A new study from Zillow shows that men can afford more homes than women in San Francisco due to pay disparities.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Men can afford more homes in San Francisco and San Jose than women due to pay disparities, a new study from Zillow shows.

The average man in San Francisco can afford 6% of the homes in the city, while the average woman can only afford 1.7%, according to the study by the real estate listing site.

Zillow looked at how the gender pay gap across industries affects home affordability in various cities in the country.

Of all the cities listed in the study, San Jose has the largest housing equity gap. Men can afford nearly 16 times as many homes as women. The average man can afford 3.3% of the housing market whereas the average woman can only afford 0.2%.

On a national level, the study showed that women have 18% fewer homes available to them than men due to the home prices and income differences.

The study also shows how housing equity differs by industry, with the biggest disparity being the "Leisure and Hospitality" industry. Women in that industry can only afford 9.6% of the housing market, whereas men in the same industry can afford 19.5% of the market.

Zillow defined affordability as being able to spend 30% or less of one's monthly income on a home's mortgage payment after a 20% down payment.