Can you afford one?
WELL, NOT REALLY: The percentage of first-time buyers able to pay for a median-priced home in Los Angeles County remained about the same over the past three months, according to figures released today by the Los Angeles-based California Association of Realtors. City News Service has report below.
About 20 percent of county households could afford a median-priced home in the third quarter of 2007, which is the same as the second quarter and up a point from the same period a year ago, according to the California Association of Realtors' Housing Affordability Index.
The minimum household income first-time buyers needed to qualify to purchase a median-priced home at
$500,130 in the Los Angeles area was $103,139, according to CAR.
In neighboring Orange County, the percentage of first-time buyers able to afford a median-priced home was 24 percent in the third quarter of 2007. That’s up from 23 percent the previous quarter and 22 percent in the third quarter of 2006, according to CAR. The minimum household income first-time buyers needed to
qualify to purchase a median-priced home at $595,550 in Orange County was $122,817, according to CAR.
The percentage of households that could afford to buy an entry-level home statewide stood at 24 percent in the third quarter of 2007, unchanged from the previous quarter and from the same period a year ago. The minimum household income needed to purchase an entry-level home at $482,910 in California in the third quarter of 2007 was $99,590, based on an adjustable interest rate of 6.56 percent and assuming a 10 percent down payment, according to CAR.
At 48 percent, the High Desert region was the most affordable in the state, followed by the Sacramento region at 46 percent, according to CAR. Santa Barbara was the least affordable region in the state
at 11 percent, followed by the Monterey region at 16 percent, according to CAR.