Santa Maria area housing among most expensive in country, study says

A housing affordability study named the Santa Maria metro area the second least affordable housing market in the United States, based on the median salaries for residents of various age groups.

The study, conducted by finance publication MagnifyMoney, assessed housing market affordability in 380 metro areas across the nation. Executive Editor Mandi Woodruff said the publication considered the most difficult places to buy a home to be those where residents would have to save up for the longest period of time.

“We found out realistically how much mortgage people could expect to afford for a house in their area, and in many cases, especially in California, people wouldn’t be able to qualify for a mortgage large enough for a house in their area,” Woodruff told the Sun.

In the “Santa Maria-Santa Barbara” area, it would take 37.69 years for someone 25 to 44 years old earning the median area salary to save for a median-priced home, listed at $799,000. For the 45- to 65-year-old age group, it would take a median salary-earner 25.36 years to save for a home.

The national average number of years needed to save for a home in those age groups is 5.63 years for 25- to 44-year-olds and 4.69 years for those aged 45 to 65, according to the study.

Of the 10 most difficult places to buy a home, nine are in California. MagnifyMoney named Salinas the No. 1 least-affordable housing market, Santa Maria-Santa Barbara No. 2, and Santa Cruz-Watsonville No. 3.

The common denominator between those three metro areas: big agriculture industries.

“I do feel like with agriculture being a huge industry there, those jobs tend not to be high-paying, especially for the hourly wage workers, and they may not be living there full-time,” Woodruff said. “Unfortunately I think what’s happening in Salinas—and the top three of the top 10—is people don’t earn enough to qualify for a mortgage large enough to cover the cost of homes.” 

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