Real Estate Group: Housing Affordability In California Improving
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Housing affordability is on the rise, thanks to strong wage growth and lower home prices, a real estate group said Monday.
Thirty-four percent of California households could afford to purchase the $465,280 median-priced home in the first quarter, up from 30 percent in fourth-quarter 2015 and unchanged from 34 percent in first-quarter 2015, the California Association of Realtors reported.
A minimum annual income of $92,571 was needed to make monthly payments of $2,314, including principal, interest, and taxes on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 4.01 percent interest rate.
Forty-one percent of home buyers were able to purchase the $389,910 median-priced condo or townhome. An annual income of $77,575 was required to make a monthly payment of $1,939.
"This is the 12th consecutive quarter that the index has been below 40 percent and is near the mid-2008 low level of 29 percent. California's housing affordability index hit a peak of 56 percent in the first quarter of 2012," the statement said.
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