California Housing Affordability Holds at 19% in Third Quarter: $228,000 Income Needed for Median-Priced Home, C.A.R. Reports
Nineteen percent of California households could afford to buy the state's median-priced existing single-family home in the third quarter of 2026, unchanged from both the second quarter and a year ago and still near historic lows, the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) reported on October 30 in its Traditional Housing Affordability Index.
The statewide median price was $894,630 in the third quarter. Buying such a home required a minimum annual income of $228,000, for monthly payments of $5,700 including principal, interest, taxes and insurance — flat from the previous quarter and $4,400 more than a year earlier. The income needed for a typical California home has now exceeded $200,000 in 15 of the past 16 quarters, and California's monthly payment remains more than twice the national average of $2,760.
Lower home prices were offset by mortgage rates rising for a second straight quarter: the effective 30-year fixed rate climbed to 6.80 percent in the third quarter, up from 6.54 percent in the second quarter and 6.67 percent a year earlier, its highest level since the second quarter of 2025. With inflation likely to remain high in the near term, the association said, mortgage rates may not moderate much over the next couple of months, continuing to challenge buyers' purchasing power.
Condos and townhomes were somewhat more attainable: at a median price of $640,000, 31 percent of households could afford one, up from 30 percent in both the previous quarter and a year ago. Of the 53 counties tracked, 24 posted quarter-to-quarter improvements in affordability and 21 declined; Lassen remained the most affordable county at 61 percent, followed by Trinity at 43 percent and Tuolumne at 42 percent.
Thresholds varied widely across Southern California. In Riverside County, California, the median-priced home cost $632,990, requiring an annual income of $161,200 and monthly payments of $4,030. In the Los Angeles metro area the median was $847,030, with payments of $5,390 and a minimum income of $215,600. In San Diego County the median reached $1.07 million, requiring an income of $274,000 and monthly payments of $6,850.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 加州河滨县Temecula与Murrieta一带住宅区航拍，John Murphy摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经Wikimedia Commons（资料图）
