San Diego County remains one of the least affordable housing markets in the United States and a new report finds the situation may be around for some time.
The National University System Institute for Policy Research (NUSIPR) study examined two decades worth of housing data in the San Diego region. One key measurement weighed the median household income against the median home price.
Nationally, the price of a home is about three times a person's yearly income. In San Diego, the price of a home is more than five times annual pay. During the housing bubble, home prices peaked at eight times the region's median household income. Researchers said there are a lot of reasons why home prices are high in San Diego and one big one is supply.
"We have some constraints based on our geography, but its also part of our policy of housing," said Kelly Cunningham an NUSIPR economist. "We restrict or limit the amount of housing that can be built or developed and this has the effect of constraining the supply."
Cunningham said there is no reason to think San Diego's income-to-home-price ratio will shrink much over time, because even in the depth of the recession, the ratio was higher here than what's considered normal for the rest of the country.
