IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Higher wages and lower prices combined to make houses in California more affordable during the first quarter of this year, according to a report released Tuesday.
Thirty one percent of the state’s potential homebuyers could afford the median-priced home of $538,640 during the first three months of 2018, up from 29 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, the California Association of Realtors reported.
Year-over-year, that percentage was virtually unchanged, from 32 percent in 2017.
A minimum annual income of $111,500 was needed to qualify for a 30-year fixed-rate loan large enough to cover the median price. That figure assumed a 20 percent down payment and monthly payments of $2,790.
In the Inland Empire, 43 percent of all prospective buyers could afford a median-priced home – $350,000 – during the first quarter, with a minimum income of $72,450 needed to qualify for a loan to cover that price, according to the report.
