HOMEBUYING SQUEEZE SEASONAL COOLING IN PRICES BRINGS NO SIGNIFICANT RELIEF IN CALIFORNIA.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer Although prices followed a seasonal cooling pattern, housing affordability in California during October remained just above its record low level, a trade group said Thursday. Two months ago, just 15 percent of the state's households could afford a home priced at the median $538,770, down four percentage points from a year ago and unchanged from September, said the California Association of Realtors. The record low, reached 16 years ago, is 14 percent. In 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. County, where the October median price was $557,730, affordability slipped to 12 percent, 1 percentage point lower than it was in September and 5 percentage points under the year-ago level. Affordability is not expected to move much the rest of the year, 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 . But the situation is certainly not good, as evidenced by the numbers for the High Desert, which includes the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley and has long been California's most affordable region. ``It wasn't too long ago when the High Desert had an affordability reading in the 60 percent range,'' said Kleinhenz. Now affordability is little more than half the nation's reading of 48 percent. In October, 25 percent of households could afford a home priced at the High Desert median of $315,870. This was a plunge The term Plunge has multiple meanings:
Kleinhenz notes that the median price in the High Desert has doubled from its level of October 2003. The association noted that a California household had to earn at least $128,480 to qualify for a median-priced house. That was up from $106,490 a year ago, when the median price was $459,530. By comparison, the minimum household income needed to purchase a home at the nationwide median price in October, $218,000, was $51,990. Scott Anderson Scott Anderson is the name of:
armored carriers of bullion. [Am. Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 1147] See : Protectiveness Wells Fargo company that handled express service to western states; often robbed. [Am. Hist. , said there are no indicators that the housing market will be making a big turn, and interest rates will creep up Verb 1. creep up - advance stealthily or unnoticed; "Age creeps up on you" sneak up advance, march on, move on, progress, pass on, go on - move forward, also in the metaphorical sense; "Time marches on" next year. That means buying a house will continue to get more expensive. ``We do expect affordability to get squeezed,'' he said. Gregory J. Wilcox, (818) 713-3743 greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com |
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