Only 16% of the California’s homebuyers could afford to purchase a median-priced, existing single-family home during the third quarter. But according to the California Association of Realtors’ (CAR) Traditional Housing Affordability Index, this is a mild improvement – the third quarter share is up from 14% in the second quarter and from 15% percent in the third quarter of 2023.
The third-quarter 2024 figure is less than a third of the affordability index peak of 56% in the third quarter of 2012.
CAR reported state residents needed a minimum annual income of $220,800 to qualify for the purchase of an $880,250 statewide median-priced, existing single-family home in the third quarter. The monthly payment – including taxes and insurance (PITI) on a 30-year, fixed-rate loan – would be $5,520, assuming a 20% down payment and an effective composite interest rate of 6.63%.
The statewide median price of existing single-family homes in California declined 2.9% quarter-to-quarter, although on a year-over-year basis California continued to record price increases for the fifth consecutive quarter, albeit at a more moderate pace of 4.3% in the third quarter.
The share of California households that could afford a typical condo/townhome in third-quarter 2024 rose to 25%, up from 22% recorded in the previous quarter and up from the 23% from one year earlier. An annual income of $168,000 was required to make the monthly payment of $4,200 on the $670,000 median-priced condo/townhome in the third quarter.
Compared with California, more than one-third of the nation’s households could afford to purchase a $418,700 median-priced home, which required a minimum annual income of $105,200 to make monthly payments of $2,630.
the only thing it’s going to make affordability better is a great financial crisis. lots of foreclosures and lots of grief. till then I wouldn’t touch real estate.
The tech industry created a new society. It hired tech people at wages that far exceed the average wages and they hired large numbers in certain areas distorting housing and other services. In the past new industries hired middle income people that strengthen communities. Tech busted that mold