A new survey released Thursday by Zillow, an online real estate company, identifies San Diego as one of the four least affordable housing markets in the United States.
San Diego ranked fourth among 100 U.S. metro areas in share of income need to buy a median-priced home or afford the median rent. The median is the halfway amount, with 50 percent priced higher and 50 percent lower.
Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose, the metro area that includes Silicon Valley, were less affordable for home purchases, while Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale were less affordable for renting.
In San Diego, residents needed 35.5 percent of their income to afford a median-priced home and 42.6 percent of their income to afford the median rent.
Zillow said that thanks mostly to low mortgage interest rates, the national affordability of for-sale homes looks much better than for rental houses and apartments.
“As rents keep rising, along with interest rates and home values, saving for a down payment and attaining homeownership becomes that much more difficult for millions of current renters, particularly millennial renters already saddled with uncertain job prospects and enormous student debt,” said Dr. Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist.
“In order to combat this phenomenon, wages need to grow more quickly than they are, particularly for renters, and growth in home values will need to slow.”
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