Shelli Strand and her husband Keith Beattie rent a one bedroom-plus office apartment in San Francisco's Potrero Hill for $2,000 a month.

The couple can afford to buy a home in one of the state's the most expensive housing markets and in one of San Francisco's most sought-after neighborhoods -- if they could just find a home in their $600,000 to $700,000 shopping range.

The few that are listed for that much typically sell for much more.

"I hate the fact that Realtors and sellers are working toward this frenzy. If you really want $800,000, don't list it at $500,000 and create this stock-selling and call-mom-and-dad frenzy," said Strand, a marketing consultant.

Even for well-paid home buyers like Strand and Beattie, affordability is falling like a rock in the Golden State.

At a record level, only one in 10 people who live in San Francisco could afford the median priced home in April, the state's lowest affordability number, according to numbers release yesterday by the California Association of Realtors.

Statewide affordability was at 30 percent in April, down 8 percent from a year ago. Nationwide, the affordability rate was 52 percent, CAR said.

San Francisco was the least affordable county in the state, followed by Contra Costa and San Mateo counties at 12 percent. Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley) clocked in at 15 percent. Southern California fared better with San Diego County at 25 percent, Orange County at 26 percent and Los Angeles County, at 34 percent. The High Desert, at 70 percent, had the state's most affordable housing.

Low affordability rates isn't California's worst news.

CAR's statistics are based on sales more than a month old. Some experts say the California market is turning a corner and buyers could be paying more than they should.

"Sellers do not want to adjust and buyers are stepping back. Talk about mass chaos," said Lynnea Key a broker who works the San Francisco market.

"In the past week, we are seeing more realistic prices. Up until this point, you had to offer 30 to 35 percent over asking to have a chance. Now you'll have only one or two offering 30 to 35 percent and the rest will be at list price or only 10 to 15 percent over. Is the real value list, 10 to 15 percent more or 30 to 35 percent more?" asked Key.

Key also says concerned appraisers are beginning not to appraise properties at high list prices or at levels above list that buyers are willing to pay.

Still, even buyers who think they can afford to live in San Francisco and other expensive California cities may not have enough wealth.

"We have a pretty good stack of money to spend on a house. We can afford the asking price, even 50 percent over the asking price. The problem is, people are selling for double over asking. We simply won't spend what people are asking for a condo or a small house," said Strand.

Published: June 2, 2000

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.