Rosewater

The California Budget Project, a Sacramento-based public policy think tank, said in a report to be released today that an increasing number of moderate- and low-income Californians are "locked out" of the housing market. "This is affecting so many middle class people now," said report author Erin Riches. "It's no longer just a low-income problem." The report also said that young people in California are finding it increasingly difficult to buy their own homes here. According to the California Association of Realtors, 19 percent of Bay Area households could afford to buy a median-priced home in November, down from 22 percent last year. Among California's low-income renters, inflation-adjusted household income fell more than 10 percent from 1989 to 2002, from $16,250 to $14,580, making it more difficult to afford housing, the report said. As a result, many people are living farther away from their jobs, resulting in long commute times.

Though average rents in the Bay Area have been declining since the first quarter of 2001, incomes have also been on a downward trend, said Matt Schwartz, executive director of California Housing Partnership, a San Francisco-based nonprofit.