Sacramento State pollster Amy Liu has been asking local residents about affordable housing since 2002.  

“This is the first time that the majority of the people in the Sacramento region think affordable housing is not a problem.” 

Only 23% of the people questioned during a telephone survey between February and March said affordable housing is a big problem. That’s way down from 51% just three years ago. 

Kathy Fox is a Prudential real estate agent in Carmichael. 

“Many, many more people can afford a home today than could even a year ago.” 

Fox says there are signs the local housing market is rebounding - with the supply of homes for sale shrinking and the number of closed escrows expanding. 

“So that would certainly indicate that the market has tightened and may continue to do so. But I just don’t know how that foreclosure market is going to affect it down the line.” 

She says that’s because major lenders will eventually lift the temporary suspensions they put on foreclosures late last year…to give struggling homeowners more time to make their payments.

Meanwhile, the Sacramento State poll finds that home prices still aren’t low enough for several segments of the population. More than two-thirds of: people under the age of 35, Hispanic residents and people who make $30,000 or less worry about affordable housing.