At the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors Charitable Foundation Trust quarterly meeting held recently, more than $10,000 was allocated to a number of nonprofit and other organizations, including Housing Options for Teachers, Rebuilding Together, Bay Area Community Resources, Child Advocates and Peninsula Habitat for Humanity.

Next month, the Los Gatos Saratoga District will hold one of the largest fundraisers of the year for the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors to benefit the Housing Industry Foundation. The seventh annual event will be held Oct. 14 from 5:30 to 10 p.m. at the Avalon Nightclub at the corner of Lawrence Expressway and Homestead Road in Santa Clara. Last year the group raised more than $100,000 for the Housing Industry Foundation earmarked for homeless-prevention programs. More than 600 people attended the event and bid on silent and live auction items.

With the percentage of households in California able to afford a median-priced home now standing at 18 percent in July, a nine-percentage-point decrease compared to the same period a year ago when the index was at 27 percent, the need for support is even greater than before. According to a report released by the California Association of Realtors, these figures show a decline in the number of households who are able to afford to buy a home. The July Housing Affordability Index was unchanged compared to June, when it also stood at 18 percent.

The association's monthly housing affordability index measures the percentage of households that can afford to purchase a median-priced home in California. The association also reports housing affordability indexes for regions and select counties within the state. The index is the most fundamental measure of housing well-being in the state.

The minimum household income needed to purchase a median-priced home at $463,540 in California in July was $109,590, based on an average effective mortgage interest rate of 5.93 percent and assuming a 20 percent down payment. The minimum household income needed to purchase a median-priced home was up from $86,120 in July 2003, when the median price of a home was $381,940 and the prevailing interest rate was 5.39 percent.

The minimum household income needed to purchase a median-priced home at $191,300 in the United States in July 2004 was $45,230.

At 42 percent, the High Desert region was the most affordable California Association of Realtors region in the state, followed by the Sacramento and Central Valley regions at 26 percent. The San Diego region was the least affordable in the state at 10 percent, followed by the Orange County and Monterey regions at 11 percent.