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The California Association of Realtors announced Thursday morning that the affordability of owning a home for all ethnic groups in the state slipped in 2024 in the face of high interest rates and mortgage costs.

Eighteen percent of all Californians earned the minimum income needed to purchase a median-priced home in 2024, down from 19% in 2023.

At that time, housing affordability for White/non-Hispanic households fell from 23% in 2023 to 21% in 2024. In 2024, 10% of Black households and 9% of Hispanic/Latino households could afford a median-priced home—figures that remained unchanged from the previous year.

Fresno County was listed as one of the most affordable counties in the state, with 35%, tied with Kern and San Bernardino counties.

Although Fresno County is rated as one of the most affordable counties for homeownership, there was still a distinguishable gap between demographics.

The median-priced home in Fresno County is $421,880 and the minimum qualifying income is $107,600

The percentages of whites, non-Hispanics and Asians who could afford a median-priced home were both at 43%, while the percentages of Hispanic/Latino and Black were 31% and 28%, respectively.

In 2024, 18% of Californians earned the necessary income to support the purchase of a $865,440 statewide median-priced detached home, slightly down from 19% in 2023.

In 2024, 27% of Asian households and 21% of White, non-Hispanic households could afford a median-priced home– compared to only 10% of Black and 9% of Hispanic/Latino households for single-family homes.

Similarly to single-family homes, Asian and White, non-Hispanic households had much higher rates than Black and Hispanic/Latino households when it came to affording a median-priced condo/townhome.

38% of Asians and 32% of White, non-Hispanic households could afford a median-priced condo/townhome of $675,000 compared to only 16% for both Blacks and Hispanic/Latino households.

Compared to the rest of the country, California is 20% less affordable across all demographics and more than double the median-priced home, which sits at $412,500 nationally.

Due to the discrepancy, the California Association of Realtors partners with several nonprofit housing organizations to provide closing cost grants of up to $10,000 to eligible first-time home buyers from underserved communities.