Housing Affordability Continues to Shrink

The percentage of households that can afford a median-priced home in California continued to decline in November, according to a state trade group. The state’s housing affordability index fell to 31% in November, down 5 percentage points from November 1999, the California Assn. of Realtors said. Economists expect affordability to continue to slide as the California housing market grapples with increasingly higher prices. “The increase in housing prices will swamp the impact of lower interest rates,” said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief CAR economist. Just 23% of households in San Diego County were able to afford a home there in November. The figure was 28% in Orange County, 33% in Ventura County and 34% in Los Angeles County. San Francisco remained the least-affordable county in the state, with only 10% of homeowners able to afford a median-priced home.