MORE EXCLUDED BY HOME PRICES.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

Housing affordability sank to 28 percent across California during March as the price of a single-family home set a record, a trade group said on Thursday.

Affordability, as measured by the percentage of households that can afford a median-priced home, slipped one percentage point from March 2002 and two percentage points from February, said the Los Angeles-based California Association of Realtors.

In Los Angeles County, 31 percent of households could afford a median- priced home in March, unchanged from February and down from 33 percent a year ago, the group said.

During March a minimum household income of $82,470 was required to buy a median-priced home of $352,780 in California based on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage at 5.80 percent with a 20 percent down-payment, the group said. The median price is the point at which half the units sell for more and half for less.

A year ago an income of $78,130 was needed for the median-priced home of $305,840. The interest rate at that time was 6.84 percent.

The current low interest rate environment helps moderate the sticker shock associated with the median price jumping $46,940 in 12 months. Also, lenders offer many mortgage products that do not require a 20 percent down payment.

Nima Nattagh, an analyst at FNC, which supplies information to the mortgage industry, said that as affordability falls it can lock some first-time buyers out of the market.

``I think we've seen clear evidence that income growth has not kept pace with house prices and that trend does continue,'' Nattagh said.

As is typical, the High Desert, which includes the Antelope Valley, was the most affordable area of the state. Sixty-five percent of households could afford to buy in those communities.

The Riverside/San Bernardino region was the next most affordable at 41 percent.

The association says that its Housing Affordability Index is the most fundamental measure of housing well-being in the state.

John Karevoll, an analyst at DataQuick Information Systems, another market tracker, is not so sure.

His company's numbers do not indicate that affordability is a problem at this point because activity is still strong across all price ranges.

``The fact of the matter is that in the last three years, no matter how we go in and look at the market, the ability of people to buy homes is very good and it is very good for all subsets of buyers,'' Karevoll said.