And Now For Some Good News

With all the doom and gloom in the reporting on the current real estate market, don't you think it is time for some good news? Well, I do. And, oddly enough, it is the same as all that bad news we have been hearing. You know, about real estate prices tumbling in California. For people who have not been able to enter the real estate market for close to a decade, there is now a remarkable opportunity. In just one year, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, the number of Californians who can afford to buy a home has doubled:

The percentage of households able to buy an entry-level residence in the state reached 48 percent during the second quarter, double the level from a year ago, according to the California Association of Realtors. The trade group defines a starter home as one priced at 85 percent of an area's median, which works out to $329,120 for the state. The minimum income needed to purchase such a property is $62,870, down from $101,440 a year ago (assuming an adjustable-rate mortgage starting at 5.69 percent and a 10 percent down payment).

Well, it may not be the news you were looking for. But if you are one of those who has been frustrated in the past half a dozen years or so about being priced out of the market, your time may have come.