California Cities Dominate List of Most Unaffordable Housing Markets

The 20 most unaffordable cities to buy a home in the United States are all located in California, according to a new study by real estate tracking agency Construction Coverage. Unlike other studies that focus solely on major metropolitan areas, this report took into account cities of varying sizes when determining affordability based on the ratio of median home prices to median income.
Leading the list as the least affordable city is Newport Beach in Orange County with a staggeringly high median home price of $3.23 million and a more manageable but still substantial median income of $127,353, resulting in an alarming ratio of 25.4.
Palo Alto in Santa Clara County comes in second place on the list, with a median home price of $3.41 million and a median income of $179,707 for a less extreme but still daunting home price-to-income ratio of 19. Rounding out the top three least affordable city is Glendale in Los Angeles County with its challenging average purchase price of $1.17 million against an average resident income of $77,483 for a slightly less alarming but still eye-popping home price-to-income ratio of 15.2.
If you’re interested in seeing the full list and rankings, click here to view it on Construction Coverage’s website.
As if Bay Area real estate couldn’t get any more outrageous than it already is, a tiny house measuring roughly that of an average hotel room sold last Friday after just six days on the market in Cupertino.