Department of Numbers

Tucson, Arizona Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Tucson, Arizona metropolitan area using price-to-income and price-to-rent metrics. The maximum affordable loan amount for the median household income is also calculated.

Tucson, Arizona Home Price-to-Income Index

The current price-to-income ratio for Tucson is 3.58 as determined by March 2010 Realtor median sales prices. The chart below shows a history of the ratio as an index calculated from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Tucson HPI series.1 Median household income data for Tucson is from the Census American Community Survey.2

Price-to-Income: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Tucson, Arizona Home Price-to-Income Index History

Date FHFA
March 2010 118.7
December 2009 121.8
September 2009 125.6
June 2009 129.3
March 2009 136.3

Tucson, Arizona Home Price-to-Rent Index

The current price-to-rent ratio for Tucson is 20.66 as determined by March 2010 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Tucson. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Tucson median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Tucson, Arizona Home Price-to-Rent Index History

Date FHFA
March 2010 113.7
December 2009 116.7
September 2009 120.3
June 2009 123.9
March 2009 130.5

Tucson, Arizona Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage is determined by taking the median household income for Tucson, Arizona 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

Date Inferred Mortgage
May 2010 $219,757
April 2010 $214,564
March 2010 $217,756
February 2010 $217,260
January 2010 $216,274
December 2009 $218,753
November 2009 $220,009
October 2009 $218,254
September 2009 $215,538
August 2009 $212,395
July 2009 $211,680
June 2009 $207,003
May 2009 $220,514

1. Specifically, FHFA data is from the non seasonally adjusted, all-transactions quarterly series.

2. Income data for the previous year is carried into the following year prior to the release of new income data.