Talking Points
- House price appreciation accelerated to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.3 percent in July, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) index. The Standard and Poor’s/Case-Shiller (CS) index shows house prices rose at an annual growth rate of 4.6 percent in July.
- Both indexes have been rising since the housing market stabilized in late 2011-early 2012. Activity from these indicators strongly reflects movement in existing home sales.
- Accelerating sales put upward pressure on prices and declining sales put downward pressure on prices.
Talking Points..
- Lower interest rates and stabilizing home prices over the past year combined to make it easier for more Californians to purchase a home in the first quarter of 2015, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.
- The percentage of home buyers who could afford to purchase a median-priced, existing single-family home in California in first-quarter 2015 rose to 34 percent from the 31 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2014 and up from 33 percent in the first quarter a year ago.
- Home buyers needed to earn a minimum annual income of $87,700 to qualify for the purchase of a $442,430 statewide median-priced, existing single-family home in the first quarter of 2015.
