Homebuying burden quadrupled in California's low-price counties

"Even the least expensive parts of California have become unaffordable for homebuyers. My trusty spreadsheet reviewed homebuying affordability data from Attom, which tracks the typical house hunter's financial challenges dating to 2005 in 36 California counties. By comparing home values, mortgage rates and household incomes, Attom determined the share of income devoured by a home purchase. Splitting those 36 counties into three slices helps show how the homebuying burden has changed from 2025's fourth quarter to Not-so-recent lows in buying's financial burden a decade-plus ago,"

"Ponder the county-by-county extremes, ranked by the surge in burdens. Start with California's biggest spikes some of the state's more affordable counties Kern: Burden rose 406% from the bottom 78% of income for the fourth quarter's $350,000 median vs. a low of 16% in 2012. Sacramento: Up 390% 82% of income for $504,500 median vs. low of 17% in 2012."

Attom's affordability data for 36 California counties compares home values, mortgage rates and household incomes to calculate the share of income required for a home purchase. The 12 priciest counties show a median burden of about 83% for a $1 million median home; the 12 cheapest counties show the same median burden of about 83% for a $398,000 median home. The priciest counties' median burden rose from a low of 37% to 83%, while the cheapest counties' burden rose from 20% to 83%. County-level spikes include Kern (78% vs. 16%), Sacramento (82% vs. 17%), Kings (88% vs. 19%), Shasta (95% vs. 21%) and Merced (80% vs. 18%). Affordability may be improving in early 2026 but remains severely diminished compared with a decade ago.

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