“How expensive?” tracks measurements of California’s totally unaffordable housing market.
The pain: Southern California has eight of the nation’s 20 least-affordable cities for homebuyers.
The source: My trusty spreadsheet reviewed RealtyHop’s affordability index for 100 US cities, which estimates how much of a household’s median income would be gobbled up by a mortgage payment for a median-priced home listed in May. The math assumes a 7.13% mortgage rate, a 20% downpayment, and property taxes.
The pinch
Los Angeles was No. 1 for its lack of affordability, with a theoretical buyer spending 99% of their income – yes, basically all of it – on the estimated $6,512 house payment. That buys you a $1.1 million house and eats up almost all of the $78,671 in citywide pay.
No. 3 was Irvine with an 85% slice of pay for a $8,982 payment on a $1.48 million house compared with a $126,861 income.
Pressure points
The rest of the Southern California cities in the study ranking among the top 20 least-affordable …
No. 5 Long Beach: 70% – $4,771 payment on $799,900 house vs. $81,509 income.
No. 7 Anaheim: 69% – $5,234 payment on $879,999 house vs. $91,356 income.
No. 8 San Diego: 67% – $5,715 payment on $959,000 house vs. $101,797 income.
No. 12 Santa Ana: 63% – $4,581 payment on $774,494 house vs. $86,891 income.
No. 14 Chula Vista: 56% – $4,883 payment on $799,000 house vs. $105,230 income.
No. 19 Riverside: 53% – $3,768 payment on $631,000 house vs. $86,104 income.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]
