C.A.R. Reports Entry-Level Housing Affordability Increases 50 Percent in Second Quarter 2008 Compared with a Year Ago.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 that could afford to buy an entry-level home in California stood at 48 percent in the second quarter of 2008, compared with 24 percent for the same period a year ago, 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.'s First Time Buyer Housing Affordability Index (FTB-HAI) measured the percentage of households that can afford to purchase an entry-level home in California. C.A.R. also reports first-time buyer first-time buyer n → persona que compra su primera vivienda first-time buyer n → personne achetant une maison ou un appartement pour la première fois first-time buyer indexes for regions and select counties within the state. The Index is the most fundamental measure of housing well-being for first-time buyers in the state. The minimum housing income needed to purchase an entry-level home at $329,120 in California in the second quarter of 2008 was $62,870, based on an adjustable interest rate of 5.69 percent and assuming a 10 percent down payment. First-time buyers typically purchase a home equal to 85 percent of the prevailing median price. The monthly payment including taxes and insurance was $2,100 for the second quarter of 2008. At $62,870, the minimum qualifying income was 38 percent lower than a year earlier when households needed $101,440 to qualify for a loan on an entry-level home. Recent decreases in home prices and mortgage rates have brought affordability into better alignment with income levels of the typical California households, where the median household income The median household income is commonly used to provide data about geographic areas and divides households into two equal segments with the first half of households earning less than the median household income and the other half earning more. is $59,160. The First-Time Buyer Housing Affordability Index also rose five percentage points in the second quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of 2008, due to an 8.6 percent decrease in the entry-level median home price. At 68 percent, the High Desert region was the most affordable area in the state. The San Francisco Bay Area “Bay Area” redirects here. For other uses, see Bay Area (disambiguation). The San Francisco Bay Area, colloquially known as the Bay Area or The Bay region was the least affordable in the state at 32 percent, followed by the Santa Clara Santa Clara, city, Cuba Santa Clara (sän`tä klä`rä), city (1994 est. pop. 217,000), capital of Villa Clara prov., central Cuba. region at 33 percent. The Monterey, Northern Wine Country, Palm Springs/Lower Desert, 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. County, Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , Merced, Riverside, and Sonoma regions all reached record-high affordability levels in the second quarter of 2008. Leading the wayO[R] in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS[R] (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States with nearly 175,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles. [TABLE OMITTED] [TABLE OMITTED] |
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