California housing affordability rebounded in the third quarter with the statewide index for existing single-family home sales inching up to 18 percent after hitting a 15-year low of 16 percent in the second quarter of 2022. According to the California Association of Realtors, the percentage of home buyers who could afford to purchase a median-priced, existing single-family home in California was down from 24 percent in the third quarter of 2021.
A minimum annual income of $192,800 was needed to qualify for the purchase of a $829,760 statewide median-priced, existing single-family home in the third quarter of 2022. The monthly payment would be $4,820, assuming a 20 percent down payment and an effective composite interest rate of 5.72 percent.
Just 27 percent of California households earned the minimum income to qualify for the purchase of a $630,000 median-priced condo/townhome in Q3, which required an annual income of $146,400 to make monthly payments of $3,660. The third quarter 2022 figure was down from 37 percent a year ago.
In the Southern California region, housing affordability increased in all counties except Los Angeles County where affordability declined to 13 percent compared with 16 percent in second quarter 2022.
In the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, affordability improved from the previous quarter in all counties except Napa County, which declined 2 percent.