Housing affordability for first-time buyers improved slightly in Los Angeles County and across the state in the 2007 first quarter, although prices remained high despite tumbling sales, a trade association said Thursday, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
In the county, affordability slipped to 20 percent from 21 percent a year earlier, but improved from 19 percent in the 2006 fourth quarter, said the Los Angeles-based California Association of Realtors.
The association measures affordability by the percentage of households that can afford the median-price home in their area.
The affordability number is based on an adjustable interest rate of 6.3 percent and a 10 percent down payment. And first-time buyers typically purchase a home equal to 85 percent of the prevailing median price.
