You Need This Salary To Afford A Home In Orange County

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Lower interest rates and higher income levels tell the story of real estate in Southern California in the third quarter.

"The percentage of home buyers who could afford to purchase a median-priced, existing single-family home in California in third-quarter 2019 rose to 31 percent, up from 27 percent in the third quarter a year ago," CAR's Traditional Housing Affordability Index reported.

In Orange County, the minimum annual income to qualify for a home loan is $162,000 a year, according to the California Association of Realtors in a recent report.

In Southern California regions, Los Angeles and Orange counties tied for being the least affordable places to live, while and San Bernardino County is the most affordable.
In Orange County, a homebuyer buying a median price home up with the down payment of $165,000 (20-percent of the $826,000 median home price) would have monthly payments of upwards of $4,000, after taxes and insurance.

Only 30 percent of Californians are earning enough to purchase a home in the golden state in the second half of 2019.

NBC4LA reports that as long as your other "financial ducks are in a row," you may still be able to afford a house.

According to CAR, compared with California, over half of the nation's households (56 percent) could afford to purchase a $280,020 median-priced home, which required a minimum annual income of $54,800 to make monthly payments of $1,370.

During the third quarter of 2019, the most affordable counties in California were Lassen, Kings, and Madera, where the minimum annual income needed to qualify for a home loan was less than $56,000, according to CAR.