Department of Numbers

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Tuscaloosa, Alabama metropolitan area using price-to-income and price-to-rent metrics.1 The maximum affordable loan amount for the median household income is also calculated. You can also compare Tuscaloosa home affordability to other cities.

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Home Price-to-Income Ratios

The second chart shows a history of the ratio as an index calculated from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Tuscaloosa HPI series. Median household income data for Tuscaloosa is from the Census American Community Survey.

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2011 117.0
September 2011 119.0
June 2011 114.3
March 2011 115.4
December 2010 119.5
September 2010 119.5
June 2010 118.4
March 2010 121.2
December 2009 126.2

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Tuscaloosa median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2011 95.2
September 2011 96.8
June 2011 93.0
March 2011 93.9
December 2010 97.2
September 2010 97.2
June 2010 96.3
March 2010 98.6
December 2009 107.7

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage value is determined by taking the median household income for Tuscaloosa, Alabama and calculating the mortgage 30% of that income could afford. Traditionally, 30% of income is the maximum amount a homeowner could use towards a home loan. Inferred affordable loan values are calculated from ACS median household income and average monthly mortgage rates.

Inferred Affordable Mortgage

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
January 2012 $217,035
December 2011 $215,985
November 2011 $215,203
October 2011 $213,138
September 2011 $212,116
August 2011 $208,102
July 2011 $201,344
June 2011 $202,289
May 2011 $199,242
April 2011 $194,688
March 2011 $194,688
February 2011 $192,250
January 2011 $196,491

1. Specifically, home prices are from the non seasonally adjusted FHFA all-transactions quarterly series. Dollar ratios are calculated using NAR metro prices when available. Rent and income data are from the Census ACS and are carried forward into the following year prior to release of the new data. ↩

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