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, just after the Great Recession slashed prices. Yes, affordability may be improving in early 2026, but these figures highlight how far affordability has fallen.
The report pondered how long it would take to save 10% of the median purchase price, a common goal for first-timers, assuming the wannabe owner saved 10% of income left over after paying taxes and life's "essentials," using the median household income. Of course, the California "affordability" numbers were ugly. For starters, the Golden State has the highest down-payment goal: $83,200 vs. a median of $38,750 across the 50 states. After California came Hawaii at $74,400, and Massachusetts at $63,900.
Roughly 1-in-5 California households have housing expenses gobbling up more than half of their incomes. My trusty spreadsheet identified numerous affordability challenges by analyzing 2024 Census Bureau housing data for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. These latest figures detail swings in who's renting and who owns, how much they pay a month, which households are financially swamped by housing expenses, and how many folks can squeeze into a home.
Here is yet another way to look at the financial challenges of California homeownership: Recurring costs eat up more than half of household income for roughly 1 in 6 owners statewide. My trusty spreadsheet identified this affordability challenge by analyzing 2024 Census Bureau housing data for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. These latest figures detail swings in who owns their residence, how much they pay a month, and how many owner households are financially swamped by expenses. That's when mortgage payments - one-third of Californians don't have a home loan - plus items such as insurance, utilities and association dues top 50% of an owner's income.