Overview

• In San Jose, the number of homes affordable to a median-income buyer doubled year over year to about 330 in July, yet only around 10% of listings met the roughly $660,000 price threshold.
• The San Francisco metro had under 14% of listings affordable, with the tally rising 23% from about 1,050 to 1,290, and Zillow found even a zero‑interest loan would not make typical Bay Area payments affordable.
• Los Angeles ranked as the tightest large market with about 3% of listings affordable, while San Diego registered 6.4% and Sacramento 11.3%, and New England standouts like Providence and Boston were at 9.1% and 11.9%.
• National for-sale inventory reached its highest level since November 2019, lifting the raw count of affordable listings even as Zillow says overall affordability has not meaningfully improved.
• Many Midwestern and some Northeastern cities showed majority affordability, including Buffalo at roughly 55%, St. Louis at 54.5%, Pittsburgh at 54.3% and Detroit at 52.8%.