Top 10 most affordable housing markets in Southern California

By Andrew Khouri

July 25, 2013 12 AM PT

Want to pay Midwest prices for a West Coast home?

Despite skyrocketing home prices in Southern California, some communities still offer bargain-basement homes — even by national standards.

The 10 most affordable ZIP codes all rest in the Inland Empire, where the median home price in some communities remains below $100,000, among them Barstow and Twentynine Palms.

But those homes are becoming harder and harder to find, as investors have scooped up many of the houses to either flip or rent out. In June, the number of Southland homes that sold below $200,000 fell 43.2% from a year earlier, while the number of homes priced under $300,000 dropped 35%, according to research firm DataQuick.

Investor activity has helped drive the dramatic price gains recently by adding another level of demand on top of traditional home buyers. Although investors have slowed their purchases of late, they remain a dominant force in the market.

Absentee buyers — mostly investors — purchased 28.7% of all homes sold in Southern California last month, DataQuick said.

The median sales price in June for Riverside and San Bernardino counties was $269,250 and $204,000 respectively, the research firm said.

The 10 most affordable ZIPs — judged by the second-quarter median sales price — include three in the city of San Bernardino.

The following are the 10 least expensive ZIP codes that were judged to have enough sales to judge a median sales price:

Least expensive ZIP codes

ZIP codeCommunityApr-June median

92311	BARSTOW	$60,000
92252	JOSHUA TREE	$71,000
92225	BLYTHE	$74,000
92277	TWENTYNINE PALMS	$78,500
92386	SUGARLOAF	$100,000
92284	YUCCA VALLEY	$100,000
92411	SAN BERNARDINO	$105,000
92410	SAN BERNARDINO	$105,000
92543	HEMET	$110,000
92405	SAN BERNARDINO	$115,000