Home Affordability in California Declines

The percentage of Californians who can afford to buy a median-priced home slipped to 32% in January, down from 35% in the same period a year ago, according to the California Assn. of Realtors.

Continued gains in median prices of single-family homes in California during most of last year--including January’s whopping 17.1% increase--were responsible for the decline, said CAR President Robert Bailey.

Based on CAR’s index, San Diego was the least affordable county in Southern California, with only 27% of households able to afford a median-priced home, up slightly from 25% a year earlier. Orange County was the second-least affordable county at 31%, up 2 percentage points.

In Los Angeles County, affordability was 34%, down from 38% a year ago, while Ventura County remained the same at 36%. Data were unavailable for Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

At 16%, Santa Clara was the least affordable county in the state, followed by San Francisco at 17%.

Diane Wedner