California home buyers need to earn a six-figure salary to afford a home listed at the statewide median price of $462,510, according to an analysis by a real estate group.

Between July and September, the median household income in California was $52,940 -- $55,370 short of the $108,310 qualifying income needed to buy a median-priced, single-family home during the same period, the analysis by the California Association of Realtors found.

An annual income of $86,630 was needed to qualify for a median-priced condominium at $369,940 in the same period, CAR said.

To purchase a home in San Francisco and surrounding areas for the median price of $646,280, prospective homebuyers need to have an annual household income of more than $150,000, CAR said.

But San Francisco Bay area households' median annual income was $68,430 during the July-September period -- the largest income gap in the state, CAR said.

Homebuyers in the Central Valley, who had a median household income of $40,640, had the smallest income gap. The median price of a home there was $288,960.

The trade group's calculations were based on the requirements for a fixed 30-year mortgage loan at the average interest rate and based on the buyer making a 20 percent down payment. Alternate types of mortgage loans, such as adjustable rate mortgages and interest only loans that result in lower monthly payments at the outset of the loan term, can help bridge the affordability gap for some buyers, however.

Still, the overall home affordability picture continues to get bleaker for most Californians, even as the housing market show some signs of cooling down somewhat.

Roughly 81 percent of California households don't earn enough money to afford a home, CAR said.

"This is the highest the gap has ever been," Leslie Appleton-Young, CAR's vice president and chief economist.

The percentage of all California homebuyers purchasing a home for the first time was 26 percent in June, the most recent sampling by CAR and the lowest level ever recorded by the organization.

"Home owners are reaping the benefits of rapid price appreciation," Appleton-Young said. "It's bad news for first-time homebuyers."