State housing affordability slips

Buying a house in California is becoming more difficult.

Thirty percent of the state’s households could afford to purchase a median-priced home of $485,100 during the second quarter of this year, down four percentage points from the first quarter, according to data released Tuesday by the California Association of Realtors.

Year-over-year, that figure was unchanged. California’s housing affordability index hit its peak, 56 percent, in the second quarter of 2012.

To pay for median-priced home, an annual income of nearly $96,000 was needed, assuming $2,400 monthly payments on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and an interest rate of 3.95 percent, the association stated.

The drop in affordability, which follows two consecutive quarters of improvement in that category, was caused mainly by the sudden increase in prices that happened during the spring. At one point, housing prices statewide rose to levels not seen since 2007, before the recession hit.

Town homes and condominiums were more affordable during the second quarter, with 39 percent of California’s homebuyers able to afford the $388,250 median-price in that category, according to the data.

Compared with the first quarter, every region in the state except for King’s County experienced a decline in housing affordability during the second quarter of 2015.

The Inland Empire was one of 19 regions that experienced a year-over-year drop in housing affordability during the second quarter, the association stated.