Want A House? Got A $128,270 Salary?

California is still only for the rich, according to new numbers from the California Association of Realtors:

The minimum household income needed to purchase a median-priced home at $543,980 in California in September was $128,270, based on an average effective mortgage interest rate of 5.90 percent and assuming a 20 percent downpayment. The minimum household income needed to purchase a median-priced home was up from $107,440 in September 2004, when the median price of a home was $463,630 and the prevailing interest rate was 5.70 percent.

The minimum household income needed to purchase a median-priced home at $212,000 in the U.S. in September 2005 was $49,990.

Find more of the data at this link.

— The Boy in the Big Housing Bubble