Los Angeles has been ranked the least affordable metro area for homeownership in the United States, with housing costs surpassing median household income, according to a new report.

Real estate site Realtor.com recently published an analysis of home affordability across the nation. The findings show that in Los Angeles, a household earning the area’s median income of $91,380 would need to spend 104.5 percent of that income on housing costs to purchase a median-priced home.
The calculation is based on a median home price of $1,195,000 as of May. Assumptions include a 20 percent down payment, an average mortgage rate of 6.82 percent, and property taxes and insurance equal to 1.72 percent of the home’s value per year.
That translates to a monthly housing cost of $7,958, exceeding the median household’s monthly income of $7,615. To afford a home in Los Angeles, a family would need to spend more than it earns each month entirely on housing. The result is 3.5 times higher than the widely recommended guideline that households spend no more than 30 percent of income on housing.
Nationally, the average housing burden is 44.6 percent of income, highlighting the extreme gap in affordability for Los Angeles residents.
The report also noted that to meet traditional affordability standards in Los Angeles, a buyer would need to make a 90 to 95 percent down payment, similar to paying in full with cash. Without such an upfront payment, buying a home under current market conditions is largely out of reach for middle-income families.
Jee Lee, director of the nonprofit Shalom Center, which is approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), said, “In expensive markets like LA, where demand is strong but supply is limited, prices have stayed high for years. Solving this imbalance is key to making homeownership possible for the middle class.”
All three metro areas with the heaviest home cost burdens in the U.S. are in California. San Diego ranked second, where the median home price is $995,000, requiring 77.1 percent of the median household income of $103,066. San Jose followed with a median home price of $1,419,000 and housing costs equal to 72.4 percent of the median income of $156,664.
In comparison, New York and Boston also exceeded the affordability threshold. In New York, 66.9 percent of a median household’s income would go toward home costs, with a median home price of $795,000. In Boston, the share was 64.3 percent, with a median price of $879,000.
The most affordable large metro area in the report was Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the median home price is $249,900. There, buyers need to spend only 27.4 percent of the median income on housing, well within the 30 percent guideline.
Experts attribute the rise in housing costs to the pandemic-era price surge. In 2023, the national median home price hit a record $412,000, up 4 percent from the previous year and 60 percent higher than in 2019, before the pandemic.
That means home prices now stand at five times the national median income — and in housing-constrained cities like Los Angeles, that multiplier climbs to eight.
BY HOONSIK WOO [woo.hoonsik@koreadaily.com]