{"id":141,"date":"2011-02-11T16:44:35","date_gmt":"2011-02-12T00:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/?p=141"},"modified":"2011-02-11T16:44:35","modified_gmt":"2011-02-12T00:44:35","slug":"home-affordability-in-s-d-county-at-record-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/home-affordability-in-s-d-county-at-record-high\/","title":{"rendered":"Home affordability in S.D. County at record high"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY\u00c2\u00a0LILY LEUNG<\/a><\/p>\n

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2011 AT 4:44 P.M.<\/p>\n

Home affordability for first-time buyers in the\u00c2\u00a0San Diego<\/a> region reached a record-high last quarter, made possible by historically low lending rates and slight drops in median home price, according to an index from the California Association of Realtors late this week.<\/p>\n

Sixty-two percent of first-timers in the region can afford starter homes, rising from 60 percent in the third quarter and 57 percent one year ago, the quarterly barometer shows. Last quarter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s figure was also the highest level of home affordability in the county in data going back to 2000.<\/p>\n

By comparison, just 23 percent could afford that\u00c2\u00a0starter home<\/a> in the second quarter of 2006, the all-time low for housing affordability in\u00c2\u00a0San Diego County<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The reason for the new record has to do with the fact that home prices are considerably lower than those at the peak though they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve edged up and hit bottom,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Robert Kleinhenz, the association\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s deputy chief economist. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mortgage rates<\/a>have hit historic lows, the lowest in decades.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

After the California Association Realtors released its index on Thursday,\u00c2\u00a0Freddie Mac<\/a> officials reported the average 30-year fixed rate jumped to 5.05 percent this week from 4.81 percent last week, the highest it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been since May. (See the U-T’s coverage<\/a><\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

While the increase will have a negative impact on affordability, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a marginal increase,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Kleinhenz, who predicts that lending rates will continue to climb steadily in 2011.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Even a one-point increase will be near historic lows, in terms of mortgage rates,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he added.<\/p>\n

Using the Realtors\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 math, a first-timer last quarter had to earn an annual income of $50,100 to purchase a starter-home priced at $324,190. The monthly payment was $1,670, including taxes and insurance, and assuming a 10 percent down payment, and an\u00c2\u00a0adjustable interest rate<\/a>of 3.39 percent.<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s down from an adjustable interest rate of 5.76 percent in the spring of 2006, when an entry-level home was $521,118 and a first-time homebuyer had to earn $100,152 a year.<\/p>\n

The index measures the percentage of local households able to afford a starter home \u00e2\u20ac\u201d valued at 85 percent of the area\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s median house price. The index assumes that buyers are making a 10 percent down payment and getting an adjustable-rate loan. The association considers its measure \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the most-fundamental measure of housing well-being for first-time buyers.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Last quarter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s income figures are down from the third quarter, when a San Diegan had to earn $52,200 for a starter-home priced at $329,470. The adjustable rate at that point was 3.66 percent.<\/p>\n

Michael Lea<\/a>, director of\u00c2\u00a0San Diego State University<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s real estate center, takes issue with using adjustable rates in the index because most first-time homebuyers qualify for FHA loans. And for most, those loans are fixed rates, which tend to be more expensive.<\/p>\n

Still, Lea agrees with the group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s general conclusions on home affordability for the county.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a good time to buy from an affordability perspective,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lea said.<\/p>\n

Original article at http:\/\/www.signonsandiego.com\/news\/2011\/feb\/11\/home-affordability-san-diego-county-all-time-high-\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY\u00c2\u00a0LILY LEUNG FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2011 AT 4:44 P.M. Home affordability for first-time buyers in the\u00c2\u00a0San Diego region reached a record-high last quarter, made possible by historically low lending rates and slight drops in median home price, according to an index from the California Association of Realtors late this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1597],"tags":[2210,2241],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jerrybice.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}