Housing affordability plummets in California, Sacramento region
Fewer than one-quarter of California families can afford to purchase the typical single-family home as the housing affordability crisis continues to hit every corner of the state.
A new analysis by the California Association of Realtors shows the percentage of families in many parts of the state who could afford the median-priced home fell significantly during the first three months of 2022 compared to the same time period last year.
The drop was particularly striking in the Sacramento region. Just 34% of Sacramento and Placer county families could afford a medianpriced home during the first quarter of 2022. That mark stood at 41% in Sacramento and 39% in Placer last year.
According to the
Realtors’ analysis, it takes an annual salary of at least $108,000 to afford the typical home in Sacramento County. In Placer County, it takes at least $136,000.
Yolo County was the least-affordable county in the region, with just 28% of families able to afford the median-priced home of $630,000, according to the data. Last year,
38% of families in Yolo could afford to purchase the typical home. In El Dorado County, just
29% of families can now purchase a median-priced home.
The first three months of the year brought huge price gains in the Sacramento real estate market. By some measures, the median price for a home sold in the region climbed more than 12% during the first three months of the year alone.
Pockets of relative affordability can only be found in some of the state’s rural counties. Lassen County, in the far northeastern part of the state and with a population of less than 35,000, was the most affordable; 61% of families there can afford to purchase the typical home. The only other county where at least half the families can afford the typical home is Kings.
Tiny Mono County, on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, was the least affordable county; 7% of families there can afford the median price home.
Experts often point to housing construction as a key solution to California’s affordability crisis. The state added more than 112,000 new housing units in 2021, but that represented just a 0.7% increase in California’s overall housing stock, the state Department of Finance reported this week.