California homes are more affordable now than last year
Email Bookmark Share
PrintCalifornians need less income than before to qualify for a home, according to a real estate industry report. So if there is any good news in the housing front in California, this data is one of them.
The California Association of Realtors reports that 64% of Californians could afford an entry level home in the state in the fourth quarter of 2009. This figure is up 3% from the same period last year.
California first time buyer homes
An entry level home is generally a first time home buyer real estate purchase. And according to the California Association of Realtors, first time home buyers typically buy a home that is 85% the purchase price of a median priced home.
Working with those figures, the association states that the cost of a first time home buyer home in California was $257,940. And based on an adjustable interest rate of 4.5% and assuming a 10% down payment, a first time home buyer needed an annual income of $44,100 to qualify to purchase such a home. This median priced first time home buyer home would cost $1,470 a month in mortgage, taxes and insurance.
Home prices decreasing around the state in 2009 resulted in an improvement in housing affordability compared with the previous year, according the association. In other bit of good news for buyers, the minimum qualifying income was 4% lower than a year earlier when households needed $45,900 to qualify for a loan on an entry-level home.
Most affordable county for California homes
Least affordable county for California homes
