HOME AFFORDABILITY SINKS PRICES GREW 20% WHILE INCOMES UP ONLY 2%.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer The gap between the state's median family income and minimum household wage required to buy a home jumped 45 percent during the first quarter of this year, a survey released Thursday has found. 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). households earning the estimated median wage of $52,320 were $41,360 short of the $93,680 qualifying income needed to purchase a median-priced home at $406,390, said the first Homebuyer home·buy·er n. One who is in the process of buying a home. Income Gap Index compiled by the Los Angeles-based California Association of Realtors. By comparison, the income gap during the first quarter of last year was $28,530. The median income then was $51,180, the house price $338,010 and the qualifying income was $79,710. This analysis will be done quarterly statewide and in selected regions, said Robert Kleinhenz, the association's deputy chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the . It will be used to complement the association's Housing Affordability Index, which tracks the percentage of households that can afford the median-priced home in their area. Housing sales remain strong, increasing an annual 4.4 percent during the first quarter, even though the affordability index is declining and the income gap index growing. ``We've got a market that is dominated by repeat homebuyers who can roll the equity, often a sizable siz·a·ble also size·a·ble adj. Of considerable size; fairly large. siz  a·ble·ness n. amount, into a large down payment on their next home,'' Kleinhenz said. Rising prices, now at record levels in many areas, widened the income gap. In this year's first quarter versus a year ago the estimated median income edged up 2.2 percent, the median house price soared 20.2 percent and the typical monthly payment increased 1.6 percent. In 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, there was a $41,000 gap between 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. and what was required to buy the median-priced home, the association said. During the first quarter a household income of at least $91,750 was required to buy a home costing the median $398,030. The Central Valley had the smallest income gap, $16,410. 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 had the biggest gap, $68,920. John Karevoll, an analyst at DataQuick Information Systems, said that sometimes these indexes just offer interesting numbers. ``The affordability index is useful for some things but during the past few years it has not been very useful in predicting buyer behavior,'' he said. Gregory J. Wilcox, (818) 713-3743 greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com |
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