Homebuying burden quadrupled in California’s low-price counties

Even the least expensive parts of California have become unaffordable for homebuyers.

My trusty spreadsheet reviewed homebuying affordability data from Attom, which tracks the typical house hunter’s financial challenges dating to 2005 in 36 California counties. By comparing home values, mortgage rates and household incomes, Attom determined the share of income devoured by a home purchase.

Splitting those 36 counties into three slices helps show how the homebuying burden has changed from 2025’s fourth quarter to Not-so-recent lows in buying’s financial burden – a decade-plus ago, just after the Great Recession slashed prices. Yes, affordability may be improving in early 2026, but these figures highlight how far affordability has fallen.

First, look at California’s 12 priciest counties where a median 83% of income went toward the fourth-quarter’s $1 million home price. But buying also takes 83% of incomes in the 12 cheapest counties, with a median price of $398,000.

Next, ponder a stunning change in this financial stress from its bottom.

The median burden in the priciest counties has slightly more than doubled from their median low of a 37% share of income.

But that same stress more than quadrupled from a collective low of 20% in California’s cheapest counties.

It’s another numerical reminder that coastal California’s affordability hurdles have spread inland.

Extreme swings

Ponder the county-by-county extremes, ranked by the surge in burdens.

Start with California’s biggest spikes – some of the state’s more affordable counties …

Kern: Burden rose 406% from the bottom – 78% of income for the fourth quarter’s $350,000 median vs. a low of 16% in 2012.

Sacramento: Up 390% – 82% of income for $504,500 median vs. low of 17% in 2012.

Kings: Up 360% – 88% of income for $330,000 median vs. low of 19% in 2011.

Shasta: Up 342% – 95% of income for $350,000 median vs. low of 21% 2012.

Merced: Up 342% – 80% of income for $407,000 median vs. low of 18% 2012.

California’s smallest spikes are in expensive counties with long-running affordability headaches …

Santa Barbara: Burden rose 101% from the bottom, 72% of income for the fourth quarter’s $981,000 median vs. a low of 36% in 2011.

Santa Cruz: Up 82% – 92% of income for $990,000 median vs. low of 50% in 2012.

Orange: Up 74% – 74% of income for $1,180,000 median vs. low of 43% in 2012.

San Luis Obispo: Up  73% – 87% of income for $841,500 median vs. low of 50% in 2012.

Marin: Up 54% – 90% of income for $1,375,000 median vs. low of 58% in 2012.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com