Housing affordability in California improved slightly in 2025, with Riverside County remaining more attainable than coastal markets, although disparities among demographic groups persisted, according to a report released Friday by the California Association of Realtors.
According to CAR, 19% of California households earned enough income to purchase a median-priced home in 2025, up from 18% the previous year, the association reported.
In Riverside County, 28% of all households could afford a median-priced home, well above the statewide average. Among demographic groups, 33% of Asian households and 29% of white non-Hispanic households could afford a home, compared to 25% of Hispanic/Latino households and 23% of Black households, according to the report.
Statewide, affordability varied widely by demographic group. Twenty-nine percent of Asian households and 23% of white non-Hispanic households could afford a median-priced home, compared to 11% each for Black and Hispanic/Latino households.
The statewide median price for a detached home was $875,550 in 2025. A minimum annual income of $221,200 was required to afford monthly payments of about $5,530, including taxes and insurance, assuming a 20% down payment and a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 6.71%, according to the association.
The gap between Black households and the overall population widened to 8.7 percentage points in 2025, while the gap for Hispanic/Latino households narrowed slightly to 7.9 percentage points, the report found.
Statewide homeownership rates also varied widely, with 64.4% for white households, 61.6% for Asian households, 45.9% for Hispanic/Latino households, and 36.5% for Black households, according to U.S. Census data cited in the report.
The association said affordability gaps are expected to remain wide in 2026 even if mortgage rates decline, as home prices are projected to continue rising.
I think this article is confused between the median value of a house in Riverside county and the statewide median. More people in Riverside County can afford a home in the median price range for Riverside County not for the statewide median price because the Riverside has much lower priced homes than the State median. But wages are also lower here than in cities such as nearby Los Angeles. The median household income here is only $ $88,404, a far cry from the $221,200 noted as necessary to afford the states median priced house, so there is no way the median Riversider is able to afford such a property. If there are more upper income people in Riverside county the scenario laid out in the story is possible but I doubt it given that the median family income is so low. .