CA Housing Affordability at Lowest Level in Nearly 16 Years

Housing affordability in California slid to the lowest level in nearly 16 years as interest rates stayed above 6 percent for the third straight quarter and home prices remained elevated by a shortage of homes on the market, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said.

Fewer than one in five (16 percent) home buyers could afford to purchase a median-priced, existing single-family home in California in second-quarter 2023, down from 19 percent in the first quarter of 2023 and down from 17 percent in the second quarter of 2022, according to C.A.R.’s Traditional Housing Affordability Index (HAI). The second-quarter 2023 figure is less than a third of the affordability index peak high of 56 percent in the first quarter of 2012.