How much do you have to earn to buy a house on LI? (Real LI)

House hunters last year didn’t have to earn as much to qualify for a loan to buy a median priced home on Long Island. They just had to make about $147,004, according to the The Center for Housing Policy, the research affiliate of the Washington, D.C.-based National Housing Conference.

But that’s 4.6 percent down from the $154,155 in household income required in 2006, according to this month’s “Paycheck to Paycheck” report.

Because mortgage interest rates went down over last year, it costs less to buy on credit.

The study used third quarter statistics for 2006 and 2007, and calculations were based on putting 10 percent down and getting a mortgage for the rest.

Long Island ranked 99 out of 201 metro area markets in changes to income needed to buy a home.

The dubious No. 1 position went to Buffalo, N.Y. People needed 10.5 percent more income -- from $30,146 in 2006 to $33,321 last year -- because the median home price there went from $88,000 to $102,000 in the same period.

New York City households last year had to earn $171,505, or .13 percent more than in 2006, to buy at $525,000, the median home price. Before, the qualifying income was $171,283 for the median home price of $500,000. The city stood at No. 39 in changes to required income.