If mortgage rates fell to zero, a good chunk of California would still remain unaffordable to the typical house hunter.<\/p>\n
My trusty spreadsheet<\/a> peeked at a study by the real estate investment site Ziffy.ai<\/a> that considered a monthly house payment at May\u2019s median listing price, with no interest charged, in 364 U.S. metro areas \u2013 including 24 in California.\u00a0A metro was deemed \u201cunaffordable\u201d if this payment exceeded 30% of the local median household income, assuming a hypothetical buyer made a 20% down payment and paid 1.6% of the purchase price for property taxes and insurance.<\/p>\n The study found that household incomes in 42 U.S. metros \u2013 including 11 in California \u2013 would not have met this 30% affordability standard in May if the lender didn\u2019t charge interest. In fact, the six most unaffordable spots in the nation were from the Golden State, by this math.<\/p>\n At the top of the cost-burdened list was Santa Maria-Santa Barbara. Its $1.75 million median listing price generates a $6,212 monthly payment with a zero-percent mortgage, plus property taxes and insurance. That would eat up 78% of the metro\u2019s median household income.<\/p>\n Here are the 10 other Golden State metros that fail the affordability test at 0%:<\/p>\n \u2013 Salinas: $1.24 million median price would cost $4,396 monthly at 0%. That\u2019s 57% of income. This was the No. 2 worst nationally.<\/p>\n \u2013\u00a0Santa Cruz: $1.3 million median costs $4,600, 51% of income, No. 3 nationally.<\/p>\n \u2013 Los Angeles-Orange County: $1.1 million median costs $3,911, 49% of income, No. 4 nationally.<\/p>\n \u2013 Napa: $1.4 million median costs $4,967, 49% of income, No. 5 nationally.<\/p>\n \u2013 San Luis Obispo: $1.08 million costs $3,822, 46% of income, No. 6 nationally.<\/p>\n \u2013 Santa Rosa: $972,500 median costs $3,458, 39% of income, No 14 nationally.<\/p>\n \u2013 Ventura County: $984,735 median costs $3,501, 37% of income, No. 15 nationally.<\/p>\n \u2013 San Diego County: $929,000 median costs $3,303, 36% of income, No. 18 nationally.<\/p>\n \u2013 San Jose: $1.4 million median costs $4,924, 36% of income, No. 20 nationally.<\/p>\n \u2013 San Francisco: $996,500 median costs $3,543, 31% of income, No. 31 nationally.<\/p>\n Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com<\/a><\/p>\n