IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Only 17 percent of California households could afford a median-priced home – $790,020 – during the last quarter of 2022, according to a study released this week.
That was an 18 percent drop from the previous month and a 25 percent decline from the last three months of 2021, the California Association of Realtors reported.
Conversely, 26 percent of the state’s home buyers could afford a median-priced condo or townhome, which cost $610,000.
The last quarter of 2022 marked the first quarter in 11 years that the median price of a home declined year-over-year. It was also the second-largest quarter-to-quarter decline since the first three months of 2011.
An increase in mortgage rates and higher home prices are mostly to blame for the lack of housing affordability, but that could change soon, according to the report.
“Home prices are expected to soften further in the upcoming quarter as rates remain elevated, which will continue to put some downward pressure on housing demand,” the report states.
In the Inland Empire, 23 percent of all households could afford a median-priced single-family home – $540,000 – during last year’s fourth quarter, down two percent from the third quarter and down 12 percent year-over-year, the Los Angeles-based association reported.
