This Northern California county tops national list for unaffordable housing

Cortlynn Stark, The Sum
·3 min read
6

Home ownership is becoming increasingly less affordable.

That’s according to a study from personal finance website MoneyGeek, which analyzed changes in homeownership costs, home price appreciation and median incomes from 2021 to 2023.

California claimed four of the top 10 spots for recently unaffordable housing.

Placer County took the top spot. Home price appreciation was 25.9% in the last two years and the median home price was $740,068. Home costs were 61.9% of income; the median income was $105,445.

Norfolk County in Massachusetts took second, with home price appreciation of 34%, a median home price of $740,967, home costs 58% of income and a median income of $115,969.

Here’s how the top 10 stacked up:

  1. Placer County, California

  2. Norfolk County, Massachusetts

  3. Washoe County, Nevada

  4. San Joaquin County, California

  5. Clackamas County, Oregon

  6. Solano County, California

  7. Lane County, Oregon

  8. Contra Costa County, California

  9. Washington County, Oregon

  10. Essex County, Massachusetts

Sacramento County ranked 11th, with a home price appreciation of 28.3%, median home price of $550,422, home costs as percent of income of 56.6% and a median income of $84,211.

Riverside, Merced and Fresno counties also made the list at 18th, 19th and 21st, respectively.

Methodology

MoneyGeek used data on home prices, fair market rents and median mortgage payments from the National Association of Realtors, as well as local property tax rates from SmartAsset. It also looked at U.S. Census data on population growth and median earnings.

An unaffordable county had to meet these criteria:

  • Population more than 250,000

  • Population growth above the country’s average

  • A 2021 income to mortgage expenses ratio less than 60%

  • House price appreciation since 2021 greater than 25%

  • Monthly homeownership cost was more than 50% of the county’s median income

MoneyGeek used price appreciation, the ratio of homeownership costs to rent and homeownership costs as a percentage of the median income to analyze its list.

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