Even though the flurry of foreclosures in the past few months has driven home prices down and made owning a home a realistic dream, recent data suggests that one county’s buyers are still looking at a very unaffordable market.

According to findings from the California Association of Realtors, San Luis Obispo County was the least affordable area in the state for first-time homebuyers in the fourth quarter. Only 44 percent of households in the county are able to afford an entry-level home, compare to the statewide average of 59 percent.

While the National Association of Home Builders housing opportunity index ranked SLO County as the least affordable smaller market in the nation, it also repositioned the county in this year’s index, bumping it from the nation’s second-least to the third-least affordable metropolitan area in the fourth quarter of last year.

The National Association of Homebuilders report showed that the nation’s housing affordability is at its highest level in at least five years, and the California Association of Realtors report showed the 59 percent of households able to afford an entry-level home in the Golden State during the fourth quarter is the highest percentage the association has on record. Last year, the figure was 33 percent.

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