The Los Angeles region's Housing
Affordability Index was down 1 percentage point from March and 4 percentage points from the same period a year ago, according to a report released by the California Association of Realtors.
There are now eight MSAs with
Affordability Index scores below 70, which PMI considers a threshold for vulnerability to an economic shock, compared to just two MSAs last quarter.
An
Affordability Index score exceeding 100 indicates that homes have become more affordable; a score below 100 means they are less affordable.
The median housing price soared in the first quarter to $195,200, which dropped the county's
affordability index to 37 percent.
The increases in closed sales coincide with the rise in the
affordability index reported by the California Association of REALTORS(R).
During March, the California Association of Realtors' Housing
Affordability Index fell an annual 3 percentage points, slipping 1 percentage point from February, said the CAR.
The most recent figures available from the National Association of Realtors put the composite
affordability index at approximately 115.
PMI's proprietary
Affordability Index measures today's housing affordability in a given MSA relative to its 1995 baseline.
Statewide, just 19 percent of residents could afford a median-price home in December 2004, a four-point decrease over last year, according to the California Association of Realtors'
affordability index.
The National Association of Realtors' composite Housing
Affordability Index was up slightly during the fourth quarter of 2004.
2 weeks of median family income in the fourth quarter, according to the Auto
Affordability Index compiled by Detroit-based Comerica Bank.
Los Angeles County's
affordability index remained at 17 percent in November, when the median price was $474,570.
