Housing Affordable for 47% of County Families

Reduced home prices and lower interest rates have combined to increase the number of Ventura County families that can afford to buy a single-family house. Nearly half the families in the county can now qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced home.

As of last December, 47% of the county’s households had an annual income of at least $52,110. That qualified them to purchase an existing house costing $195,890--the median price in the county at the end of 1995, according to the California Assn. of Realtors.

Assuming that the buyers made a 20% down payment, that left them with total monthly payments of $1,300 for mortgage, taxes and insurance.

Ventura County’s affordability picture is decidedly improved over a year ago, when only 40% of the county’s households qualified to buy a median-priced house.

Here’s how the two key figures in the county’s housing costs changed in 1995:

* The median price of a single-family existing residence fell from $200,650 in December 1994 to $195,890 in December 1995.

* Fixed mortgage rates declined from an average of 8.37% in 1994 to 7.94% during all of 1995. Rates are currently even lower, hovering around 7%.

A year ago, only 40% of Ventura County’s households could afford the total monthly cost of $1,410 for a median-priced house.

With sales of single-family houses down nearly 12% in California and 14.5% in Ventura County last year, improved affordability is one of the few bright spots in the state’s housing outlook.

The improvement “will have a tremendous impact on California’s overall economic competitiveness, particularly with respect to other Western states,” predicts Leslie Appleton-Young, the real estate group’s head of research and economics.

Nationwide, 56% of all households have the $30,280 income required to buy a house selling at the median price of $113,800. Total monthly payments on that house would be $760.