Housing affordability is slightly improving in one of the most expensive markets in the country, California, where homes are currently selling for nearly double the nationwide median.
By the end of 2025, the number of residents able to afford the median-priced home in the state had climbed to 18 percent, according to the California Association of Realtors, up from 17 percent in the third quarter of 2025.
Why It Matters
Millions of Californians, especially those with lower incomes, cannot afford housing.
Home prices have skyrocketed all across the country since the pandemic due to the homebuying frenzy sparked by historically low borrowing costs, which clashed with a chronic, nationwide lack of inventory…