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Photo: MLS Image 1 of / 38 Caption Close Image 2 of 38 Architectural details Architectural details Photo: MLS Image 3 of 38 Architectural details Architectural details Photo: MLS Image 4 of 38 Architectural details Architectural details Photo: MLS Image 5 of 38 Image 6 of 38 Entry Entry Photo: MLS Image 7 of 38 Foyer and dining room Foyer and dining room Photo: MLS Image 8 of 38 Inlaid floors Inlaid floors Photo: MLS Image 9 of 38 Living room with fireplace Living room with fireplace Photo: MLS Image 10 of 38 Image 11 of 38 Doorway into the double parlor/bedroom Doorway into the double parlor/bedroom Photo: MLS Image 12 of 38 Stained glass Stained glass Photo: MLS Image 13 of 38 Bedroom Bedroom Photo: MLS Image 14 of 38 Kitchen Kitchen Photo: MLS Image 15 of 38 Image 16 of 38 Breakfast nook Breakfast nook Photo: MLS Image 17 of 38 Bedroom Bedroom Photo: MLS Image 18 of 38 Main floor bath Main floor bath Photo: MLS Image 19 of 38 Upper floor Upper floor Photo: MLS Image 20 of 38 Image 21 of 38 Upper floor bedroom Upper floor bedroom Photo: MLS Image 22 of 38 Upper floor bedroom Upper floor bedroom Photo: MLS Image 23 of 38 Upper floor bedroom Upper floor bedroom Photo: MLS Image 24 of 38 Upper floor bedroom Upper floor bedroom Photo: MLS Image 25 of 38 Image 26 of 38 Upper floor bath Upper floor bath Photo: MLS Image 27 of 38 Upper level family room Upper level family room Photo: MLS Image 28 of 38 Upper floor bath Upper floor bath Photo: MLS Image 29 of 38 Upper-floor office Upper-floor office Photo: MLS Image 30 of 38 Image 31 of 38 Closet space Closet space Photo: MLS Image 32 of 38 Staircase between floors Staircase between floors Photo: MLS Image 33 of 38 Garage Garage Photo: MLS Image 34 of 38 Garage/storage Garage/storage Photo: MLS Image 35 of 38 Image 36 of 38 Backyard Backyard Photo: MLS Image 37 of 38 Backyard Backyard Photo: MLS Image 38 of 38 Nearly 90 percent of San Franciscans cannot afford a median-priced home in the city 1 / 38 Back to Gallery

Only 13 percent of San Francisco households can afford to pay the nearly $7,000 a month in housing costs for a median-priced home here, according to recent analysis by Paragon Realty. “By definition, half the homes sold in any given county were at prices below the median sales price, i.e. there were numerous homes that were more affordable than the median prices used in this analysis,” said the report. “However, any way one slices it, the Bay Area has one of the most expensive— if not the most expensive—and least affordable housing markets in the country.”

Using data from the California Association of Realtors’ Housing Affordability Index, Paragon found that the 13 percent affordability rate is actually better than the all-time affordability low of 8 percent during the housing boom of 2007, despite the fact that the $1.375-million price tag for a median-priced home in S.F. is about 50 percent higher than it was in 2007. (The data only examines single-family home costs; if condos were included, the median would drop to $1.2 million.)

“The reason behind that apparent contradiction is the approximate 44 percent decline in interest rates, 2007 to 2016, as well as some increase in median household incomes,” according to the report. “Extremely low interest rates have subsidized increasing home prices to a large degree in recent years.”

Even with the historically low interest rates, the report found that San Francisco households needed a minimum income of nearly $270,000 in order to qualify to buy a median-priced home. Those minimum incomes were only slightly lower in San Mateo and Marin. A Santa Clara household would need about $212,000 to buy a median-priced home there; in Alameda the income needed dropped to about $160,000.

The report pointed out that rising prices in the housing market also have a direct relationship to affordability in the rental market, often with more dire consequences for renters. “The affordability challenges for renters (unless ameliorated by rent control or subsidized rates) has probably been even greater than that for buyers, since renters don’t benefit from any significant tax benefits, from the extremely low, long-term interest rates, or by home-price appreciation trends increasing the value of their homes (and their net worth),” the report summarized. “In fact, housing-price appreciation usually only increases rents without any corresponding financial advantage to the tenant.”

Emily Landes is a writer and editor who is obsessed with all things real estate.