A few months ago, we heard the deeply depressing factoid that a person would have to make $96,513 to be able to afford a median-price house in Los Angeles. But now there's hope: the LA Weekly reports that new fourth quarter numbers from the California Association of Realtors show you'd only have to make $91,300 to afford the median now. Whew! That's a load off, right? Now a whole 28 percent of Angelenos can theoretically afford to buy the median house. (In the third quarter of 2014, only about 25 percent of Angelenos could afford a median house.) That's probably because the median house costs about $450,880 in LA; that breaks down to an estimated $2,280 a month house payment.
Beyond Los Angeles proper into the LA metro area, where housing is cheaper, about a third of Angelenos—34 percent—could buy a place. Casting a wider net means paying a median price of $414,040. That's also up, from 32 percent in the third quarter of 2014, and we will gladly take those two percentage points where we can get them.
The real affordability hotspot, though is far-flung San Bernardino County, where 2014's fourth quarter affordability was a jawdropping 57 percent. Perhaps that's why so many LA residents have left for San Berdoo?
· L.A. Homes Just Got More Affordable (If You're Rich) [LAW]
· You Have to Make $96,513 to Afford a Cheap House in LA [Curbed LA]
· Why Are People Fleeing Los Angeles For San Bernardino? [Curbed LA]
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