California house hunters can afford only 12% of homes up for sale

"In the state's largest housing markets combined, only 6,341 of 51,803 listings were priced below a combined affordability maximum of $415,600. That's just 12%. The only good news is that this shamefully meager level of affordability is up from 8% at the start of 2025. Cheaper mortgage rates and incomes outpacing home appreciation helped to improve a house hunter's hopes."

"Consider the 44 metros studied outside of the Golden State. Collectively, 38% of homes for sale were affordable—187,364 of 487,796 listings below the $346,400 affordability max. In January 2025, it was 31%. Or contemplate what house hunters are seeing in the rest of the nation, minus the big 50 metros. In what I'll call small town America, 40% of listings are financially attainable."

"Look at the Golden State housing mess another way: 5% of the nation's listings were in the six big California markets, but the state accounted for only 1% of the homes on the market that met Zillow's affordability standards."

California's housing affordability crisis is severe, with only one in eight homes for sale in the state's six largest metropolitan areas priced within reach of typical local incomes. Analysis of Zillow data from January shows just 6,341 of 51,803 listings in these markets met affordability standards, representing 12% of available inventory. This modest improvement from 8% at the start of 2025 resulted from declining mortgage rates and incomes growing faster than home prices. By contrast, 38% of homes in other major U.S. metros are affordable, and 40% in smaller markets meet affordability criteria. California's six largest metros represent only 5% of national listings but account for just 1% of homes meeting affordability standards nationwide.

Read at www.ocregister.com