Many Californians who earn the median household income for their area cannot afford to buy a house where they work, the California Association of Realtors said.
Only seven of 32 counties in California are affordable to home buyers at the median income levels. Counties in the San Francisco Bay region had the widest gap between income and housing prices.
"The significant disparity between what home buyers can realistically afford and actual home price is discouraging, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area," Chris Kutzkey, the California Realtors' president, said in an Aug. 20 news release.
California has 58 counties, but the CAR's survey only looked at 32 counties.
The statewide median home price in the second quarter was $446,980. That's about 50% higher than what can be afforded by a California household with the median income of $60,244.
Making matters worse, inventory is tight. Less than a third of homes statewide were cheaper than the $304,490 price that a household earning the median income can afford.
