Recent reports reflex this reluctance, median home prices dropped from $500,000 down to 375,00 in one year!
This was the biggest yearly drop in real estate in over 30 years.
Lancaster and Palmdale were reported as the worst. Median home prices fell an average of 40%.
Los Angeles fell around 25% and San Bernardino County drop down 31%. To make matters worse experts say that these communities
will take much longer to recover. Foreclosures are also playing a role in this declining housing market.
The rising cost of gas prices are believe to be the cause. It is predicted that we are only half way through this drop.
It is said that until home falls to a amount people can afford to pay we wont see a bottom out. Other experts say that their
is a strong argument that prices are coming down fast enough to attract bargain hunting. And that demand will go up because home
builders have stopped building. Its really hard to say what will happen to the market. No one can accurately predict what will happen. One thing is for sure there are some really great deals for home buyers. More

Cost of living in California Statistics

• Utilities – $29.38 for garbage $23.50 for water and $25.10 for sewer.
• Energy – 22.1 cents kilo-watts per hour.
• Gasoline – $3.93 per gallon (As of 9-14-2011)
• Housing Wage – $22.86 per hour

This is the hourly wage a person must earn working 40 hours a week,
52 weeks a year to be able to afford mortgage and utilities.

California Sales Tax Breakdown

The Cost of living in California when it comes to sales taxes.
Californians pay from 7.25% to 8.75 % depending where they live.
California doesn’t tax food or prescription drugs. They do place a .40 per gallon tax on gas.

California Cost in Taxes

• State General Fund – 6.25 %
• Fiscal Recovery Fund – 0.25%
• Local Revenue Fund- 0.50%
• Local Public Safety Fund .50%
• .87 tax on cigarettes
• Local Public Safety Fund 1.00%
• Uniform Local Tax 0.25%
• County Transportation funds 0.75%
• County Operational fund .25%.

Cost of living in California On The Rise

The population decline in California is staggering.
The Rising Cost Of Living in California will cause all the educated workforce to leave California by the year 2020.
Department of Finance estimates show natural increase (the difference between births and deaths), now account for more than
two thirds of the state’s growth.

It is no surprise that many California residents have moved north in search of a lower cost of living through better
wages and more affordable housing. The big question is why in such a robust economy are people having trouble making
the mortgage? Especially when the average wage is $14.00 per hour. The answer is homes cost way to much and the cost of
even renting an apartment is out of control. If cost of living in California stays as is a unique problem will exist.
Plenty of jobs with out any people to work them which will create a very interesting paradox.

The Rising Cost Of Living For Seniors

How poor do you have to be to be able to afford pubic assistance in California. According to the CHRP public assistance programs cover less than half of seniors basic cost of living in California. With an annual income of less than $13,000 to qualify it is easy to see why this is the case. In comparison the average cost of living for a retiree in California is roughly $30,537 this is $17,000 more than the California assistance threshold.

So why isn’t California taking care of its seniors? It is easy to see that California leadership is not keeping the policy up to date with rising living costs. Understanding how expensive living is for seniors is important to ensure that their basic cost of living is covered. The elder index is a fact based and comprehensive look at expenses effecting senior citizens and is designed to replace the current Federal Poverty line. It gives legislators accurate calculations as far as the Cost Of Living in California and how it effects the elderly. It is designed to secure funding, and allocate resources and aid seniors in their retirement plans. This is apart of a California wide project to insure that adequate funds are available for our seniors to cover their cost of living expensive.

Developed over 40 years ago the official federal measure of poverty was grossly outdated using surveys from the 1950s. The measure was factoring in solely the basic cost of food needed to satisfy minimal nutritional requirements. It does not account for housing and transportation costs. And we all know gas is effecting the cost of living for everyone including people in California. But for seniors the rising cost of prescription drugs has become yet a bigger burden. The Elder Index, in contrast, provides a calculation of a basic cost of living for retired adults age 65 and older for every California county and includes things such as the cost of food, transportation, medical, housing and other expensive directly effecting the cost of living in California.
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research based its calculations using widely accepted and credible national and state data sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Geographically relevant data was used for each county in California, reflecting local market rates for items such as housing, food, and health care.The policy brief was presented at a legislative hearing in Sacramento on February 27 made possible by many contributing foundations.