For the past two years, the least affordable housing market has been San Francisco, with a median home price of $908,750.
The National Association of Realtors said that California, in general, is the least affordable place to live in the U.S., citing high home prices.
Now, the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index has given the title of least affordable housing market to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, California, only 11.3% of homes sold during the fourth quarter of 2019 were affordable to families earning the area’s median income of $73,100.
“Growing household formations, ongoing job creation and rising wage growth are fueling housing demand,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “But a record-low resale inventory, coupled with underbuilding as builders deal with supply-side constraints, continue to put upward pressure on home prices even as interest rates remain at low levels.”
Because of this, Zillow says that home shoppers are leaving Los Angeles for cheaper metros, the most popular being Las Vegas.
San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco fell to No. 2 on the least affordable list, after being the nation’s least affordable housing market for the previous eight quarters. Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine; San Diego-Carlsbad; and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara are other major California metros that remain unaffordable.
