Home prices up 16% in a year
Numbers from the California Association of Realtors for the February 2021 period show the median home cost in Humboldt County has risen over the last 12 months.
The data shows a current median home price of $360,000, a 16% year-to-year rise compared to the reported median of $310,390 during the same period in 2020.
Compared to January 2021, the median home price dropped by 1.6%, or $6,000, from $366,000.
As calculated by SmartAsset using the CAR guidelines for first-time buyers, the current recommended yearly income to purchase a home is $65,475, with a minimum recommended savings of $28,306.
The numbers account for CAR’s guidelines, which consider the region’s median home price, a 10% down payment, the current Freddie Mac interest rate (now at 3.09 percent), property taxes and an insurance rate of 0.38 percent of the market’s median price.
The minimum income needed to purchase a home in January 2021 home under CAR guidelines was $66,800, with expected monthly payments of $1,670.
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reports a median household income of $51,134 for Humboldt County in 2019, the most recent year’s data available on the bank’s website. These numbers indicate a majority of county residents do not earn enough to buy a local home.
Over half of California households from outside the county do earn above the recommended median income to purchase a home in Humboldt County. The bank registers the state’s median household income for 2019 at $78,105.
Nationally, the majority of households can also afford to purchase a home in Humboldt County, as the 2019 median household income was $68,703 according to the bank’s data.
Despite remaining out of reach for many local residents, Humboldt County housing remains among California’s most affordable designations.
All counties included under the Southern California, San Francisco Bay Area, and Central Coast CAR regions posted higher median prices, with San Mateo County registering the state-high median home price cost of $1,690,000.
The majority of counties in the CAR’s designated Far North region, which includes Lassen, Plumas, Siskiyou, Shasta and Tehama counties, have lower median prices than Humboldt County. Butte County, with a median home price of $405,000, is the only county in the Far North surpassing Humboldt County’s median price.
Several Central Valley region counties, including Kern, Kings, Madera and Tulare, also register lower median prices than Humboldt County.