C.A.R. Reports California's Housing Affordability Index Falls Six Points to 19 Percent in February.LOS ANGELES Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. -- The percentage of households in California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). able to afford a median-priced home stood at 19 percent in February February: see month. , a 6 percentage-point decrease compared with the same period a year ago when the Index was at 25 percent (revised), according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a report released today by the California Association of REALTORS(R) (C.A.R.). The February Housing Affordability Index (HAI HAI Health Action International HAI Healthcare-Associated Infections HAI Helicopter Association International HAI Hospital Acquired Infection HAI Hemagglutination Inhibition (Immune assay type, microbiology) ) improved 1 percentage point from January January: see month. , when it stood at 18 percent. C.A.R.'s monthly housing affordability index measures the percentage of households that can afford to purchase a median-priced home in California. C.A.R. also reports housing affordability indexes for regions and select counties within the state. The index is the most fundamental measure of housing well-being in the state. The minimum household income needed to purchase a median-priced home at $471,620 in California in February was $109,380, based on an average effective mortgage interest rate of 5.71 percent and assuming a 20 percent downpayment. The minimum household income needed to purchase a median-priced home was up from $91,050 in February 2004, when the median price of a home was $391,550 and the prevailing interest rate was 5.74 percent. The minimum household income needed to purchase a median-priced home at $191,000 in the U.S. in February 2005 was $44,300. At 38 percent, the High Desert region was the most affordable C.A.R. region in the state, followed by the Sacramento Sacramento, city, United States Sacramento (săkrəmĕn`tō), city (1990 pop. 369,365), state capital and seat of Sacramento co., central Calif. region at 24 percent. The Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. region was the least affordable in the state at 8 percent, followed by the Northern Wine Country region at 9 percent. C.A.R.'s March 2005 sales and median price report for the state and regions within the state will be released on April 25. Leading the Way...(R) in California real estate for 100 years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time California Association of REALTORS(R) (www.car.org See .org. (networking) org - The top-level domain for organisations or individuals that don't fit any other top-level domain (national, com, edu, or gov). Though many have .org domains, it was never intended to be limited to non-profit organisations. RFC 1591. ) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , with more than 160,000 members dedicated to the advancement A gift of money or property made by a person while alive to his or her child or other legally recognized heir, the value of which the person intends to be deducted from the child's or heir's eventual share in the estate after the giver's death. of professionalism professionalism the upholding by individuals of the principles, laws, ethics and conventions of their profession. in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.
C.A.R. HOUSING AFFORDABILITY INDEX (a)
REGION Feb-05 Jan-05 Feb-04
California 19 18 25 r
California - Condos 27 27 34 r
United States 54 55 58 r
C.A.R. REGION
Central Valley 23 23 34
High Desert 38 39 55
Los Angeles 17 17 22
Monterey Region 10 10 16
Northern California 19 20 27
Northern Wine Country 9 11 15
Orange County 11 12 17
Palm Sprgs/Lwr Desert 12 10 18 r
Riverside/SBernardino 17 18 32
Sacramento 24 24 36
San Diego 11 11 15
San Francisco Bay Area 13 13 19 r
San Luis Obispo 13 13 14
Santa Barbara County 8 7 16 r
Santa Clara 20 21 27
Ventura n.a. 14 22
COUNTY
Alameda 13 14 19 r
Contra Costa 10 10 10
Fresno 26 26 35
Marin 13 13 18
Merced 17 19 33
Riverside 16 15 27 r
San Bernardino 24 23 38
San Francisco 10 11 12
San Joaquin 17 17 29
San Mateo 14 15 18
Santa Cruz 12 12 17
Sonoma 10 11 16
Stanislaus 24 24 35
(a) -- percentage of California households that can afford to
purchase a median-priced home
r - revised
Source: California Association of REALTORS(R)
Median Prices By Region - Current Month vs. Year Ago
Feb-05 Jan-05 Feb-04
-----------------------------------------------------------
Statewide
Calif. (sf) $471,620 $485,700 r $391,550 r
Calif. (condo) $384,710 $376,300 $316,520 r
C.A.R. REGION
Central Valley $313,960 $306,560 $245,990
High Desert $257,320 $252,440 $183,200
Los Angeles $473,550 $475,800 $390,100
Monterey Region $693,660 $683,700 $515,780
Monterey County $635,000 $620,000 $471,500
Santa Cruz County $730,000 $715,000 $560,000
Northern California $385,330 $372,880 $303,900
No. Wine Country $591,320 $545,730 $450,360
Orange County $663,600 $634,280 $569,760
Palm Spgs/Lwr Desert $362,120 $380,600 $289,170 r
Riverside/S. Bern. $342,120 $338,780 $254,570
Sacramento $351,700 $346,950 $277,300 r
San Diego $580,860 $580,220 $479,540
San Francisco Bay $677,850 $666,740 $597,080 r
San Luis Obispo $496,430 $495,000 $444,190
Santa Barbara County $638,890 $680,000 $441,670 r
S. Barbara So. Coast $1,200,000 $1,262,500 $945,000
No. S. Barbara County $450,000 $443,750 $348,080 r
Santa Clara $705,000 $664,000 $566,200
Ventura na $638,130 $528,650
na - not available
r - revised
Source: California Association of REALTORS(R)
|
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion