State of Housing

Despite California’s strengthening real estate market, only half of the homes in the Los Angeles and Long Beach areas were affordable for those earning average incomes in the first quarter of 1997. Higher-than-average home prices also caused the state to rank near the bottom in homeownership in 1996. The inability of many residents to purchase their own homes, however, has helped decrease the state’s vacancy rates on rental properties. Housing affordability in various Western regions, states with the lowest homeownership rates and those with the highest rental vacancy rates:

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Housing affordability for select Western regions

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Share of homes affordable for median-income Median families in first income Region quarter 1997 in 1997 Fresno 59.4% $35,600 Yolo, Calif. 58.0 48,200 Orange County 56.4 63,200 Ventura 55.9 61,100 Greeley, Colo. 54.7 41,300 Stockton-Lodi, Calif. 54.5 42,600 Chico-Paradise, Calif. 52.1 34,200 Los Angeles-Long Beach 50.2 47,800 Oakland 49.7 47,700 Salt Lake City-Ogden, Utah 49.1 47,700

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Homeownership

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Percentage of residents who owned Rank State a home in 1996 40 (tie) Washington 63.1% 40 (tie) Oregon 63.1 42 Alaska 62.9 43 Arizona 62.0 44 Texas 61.8 45 Massachusetts 61.7 46 Nevada 61.1 47 Rhode Island 56.6 48 California 55.0 49 New York 52.7 50 Hawaii 50.6 51 District of Columbia 40.4

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Rental vacancy rates

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Rental vacancy Rank State rate for 1996 1 South Carolina 14.1% 2 (tie) District of Columbia 13.4 2 (tie) Utah 13.4 4 Mississippi 13.2 5 Georgia 11.6 6 Oklahoma 11.0 7 Connecticut 10.7 8 (tie) Michigan 10.2 8 (tie) Arizona 10.2 10 Kansas 9.9 25 California 7.2

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Sources: Census Bueau, Experian, National Assn. of Home Builders

Researched by JENNIFER OLDHAM / Los Angeles TimesHomeownership