1 in 7 Can Afford Median-Priced Home in O.C.

For the third consecutive month, only one in seven Orange County households could afford a house at October’s median home price.

That price was $253,034, according to the California Assn. of Realtors. That meant a household needed an annual income of $83,657 to afford the monthly payments of $2,091, the trade association said Monday.

Only 14% of the county’s households earn that much .

A year ago, one in five households in the county could afford a median-priced house, which then cost $222,036.

Orange County was not the least affordable of the state’s big housing markets in October, however. That dubious honor went again to San Francisco and Ventura County, where only 11% of households could afford the median price. That price was $262,271 in San Francisco and $251,364 in Ventura County.

Statewide, 19% of households could afford the median-priced house at $193,557, up from 18% in September.

That doesn’t mean a big improvement, however. It merely reflects the fact that more homes are being sold in lower-priced markets and fewer homes are being sold in high-priced markets such as Orange County, the trade association said.

AFFORDABILITY INDEX FOR EXISTING HOMES

Fourteen percent of Orange County households could afford to buy the median-priced resale home in the county in October, unchanged from September and contrasted with 20% in October, 1988.

MEDIAN MONTHLY SELLING PRICE MORTGAGE PAYMENT Oct. Sept. Oct. Oct. Sept. Oct. 1989 1989 1988 1989 1989 1988 Orange County $253,034 $250,885 $222,036 $2,091 $2,069 $1,737 United States 92,100 94,300 88,900 761 778 696 California 193,557 199,606 178,499 1,600 1,646 1,397 S.F. Bay Area 262,271 266,085 233,060 2,168 2,195 1,824 Los Angeles 222,842 221,954 190,519 1,842 1,831 1,491 San Diego 181,135 176,852 155,275 1,497 1,459 1,215 Riverside/ 129,920 130,036 113,220 1,074 1,072 886 San Bernardino

MINIMUM PERCENT ANNUAL INCOME QUALIFIED Oct. Sept. Oct. Oct. Sept. Oct. 1989 1989 1988 1989 1989 1988 Orange County $83,657 $82,767 $69,492 14 14 20 United States 30,450 31,110 27,823 47 46 48 California 63,993 65,850 55,866 19 18 21 S.F. Bay Area 86,710 87,782 72,942 11 10 14 Los Angeles 73,675 73,223 59,628 14 14 20 San Diego 59,886 58,344 48,597 19 19 23 Riverside/ 42,953 42,899 35,435 29 29 36 San Bernardino

Source: California Assn. of Realtors