More foreclose homes for sale in Seattle and in other neighborhoods in King County have become affordable to families earning the median family income of $68,821 in the county.

According to Seattle Times, buyers earning the median income, as estimated by the Washington Office of Financial Management in 2008, can afford to buy foreclose homes for sale and other residential properties in six King County areas whose median prices range from $248,450 to $290,500.

During the boom in 2007, only homes in Auburn were affordable, when $266,750 was the median home price in the area. In 2005, families earning the median income could afford to make home purchases in 14 King County neighborhoods, including the Georgetown-Deldridge area in Seattle.

Todd Sinai, real estate associate professor at Wharton in Pennsylvania, said the unaffordable home price levels from 2006 to 2007 have gone down to where they should be. He expects home prices to become more affordable next year.

However, Sinai said the high unemployment rate and the still struggling economy are making the affordability factor useless. He questioned if there are significant numbers of people who can buy the affordable foreclose homes for sale and other affordable houses in light of job losses, pay cuts and lack of available credit.

Washington State’s jobless rate in April reached 9.1 percent, with more than 317,890 jobless people looking for employment.

Most King County communities with the most affordable home prices are located in the southern suburbs of Seattle. Auburn is the most affordable, with many homes priced at $248,450. Prices have declined by almost 25 percent in Auburn since 2007, based on records from online brokerage Redfin.

In recent months, the number of foreclose homes for sale increased in the southern part of King County, pushing prices down further in the neighborhoods of North Burien, West Kent-Des Moines, Enumclaw, Pacific-Algona, and Twin Lakes.

Redfin real estate agent Loren Ellingson said her investment home has almost lost all its equity because of low-priced foreclosed homes for sale offered by banks and other foreclosure listings.

Rasema and Haris Svraka are among fortunate couples who were right on time in joining the housing market. They have bought a three-bedroom foreclosed house for $228,000 in Des Moines, a purchase they could not have made during the boom.

The Troncosos were also able to buy a unit from a bank’s foreclose homes for sale in Auburn for $330,000, much less than the $410,000 original listing price of the house.