State housing affordability drops

Eighteen percent of California households could afford a median-priced home – $829,760 – during the third quarter, according to the California Association of Realtors.

That was up 16 percent from the second-quarter of this year but down from 24 percent compared with the third quarter of 2021, the Los Angeles-based trade association reported recently.

An annual income of at least $192,800 was needed to make the median-priced purchase, assuming a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with an interest rate of 5.72 percent. Those figures include principal, interest and taxes.

Twenty seven percent of the state’s homebuyers could purchase a $630,000 median-priced condominium or townhome during the third quarter. That purchase would require a minimum annual income of $146,400 to make payments of at least $3,660 a month.

Nationwide housing affordability also dropped year-over-year during the third quarter.

Thirty nine percent of U.S. households could afford a $398,500 median-priced home, which would require a minimum income of $92,400 to cover monthly payments of $2,310. That was an 11 percent drop in affordability from 2021, according to the association.