Only seven of California’s 25 counties — mostly in the Central Valley and far north — have homes affordable to buyers who earn the median household income, the California Association of Realtors warned Thursday.
“The significant disparity between what home buyers can realistically afford and actual home price is discouraging, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area,” said Chris Kutzkey, president of the association.
“While housing is affordable in some regions of the state, California lacks an adequate supply and mix of affordable housing in locations where the majority of the state’s workforce resides,” she added.
In the second quarter of 2015, the statewide median price of $446,980 was nearly 50 percent higher than what a California household with the median income of $60,244 could afford to purchase.
The only counties where homes are affordable were Kings, Merced, San Bernardino, Tulare, Shasta, Fresno and Madera.
San Francisco was the least affordable county in the state. Families earning that county’s median income of $75,910 could afford a $383,670 home, but a media priced home there costs three times more — $1,247,570.
San Diego isn’t nearly as bad off, with the median income of $61,770 able to afford a $312,180 home, and the median priced home costing about 50 percent more at $475,230.