21% Qualify: Realty Group

About one in five California households earned enough money to qualify for a mortgage loan to buy the median-priced home in the state during November, according to the California Assn. of Realtors.

Assuming that borrowers made a 20% down payment of about $35,500, they’d have to earn $54,836 annually to qualify for a loan to buy the median-priced home of $177,485, the trade group reports. The monthly payment for principal, interest, property taxes and insurance would be $1,396.

Based on those assumptions, only 21% of all California households could buy a typical home in November, down from 22% in October and 32% a year earlier. The drop was blamed on higher home prices and rising interest rates.

About 26% of all households in Los Angeles County could afford to buy the area’s median-priced home of $150,744, and 30% of all households in San Diego could afford to buy that county’s median-priced home of $130,573.

An estimated 26% of all Orange County households could purchase that area’s median-priced home of $178,870 in November. The most affordable Southland housing market remained Riverside/San Bernardino, where 47% of the households have enough to buy the region’s median-priced home of $95,869.