California Home Affordability
The data below quantifies California home affordability by using home prices and home price indices to calculate price-to-income and price-to-rent ratios.1 The maximum affordable loan amount for the median household income is also calculated. You can also compare California home affordability to other states.
California Home Price-to-Income Ratios
The home price-to-income ratio for California comes from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's relatively new state median price series and their purchase only index combined with California annual median household income data. The FHFA home price series yields a dollar ratio (top chart) while the index results in an index ratio (bottom chart). Based on the latest FHFA state home prices in June 2010, the price-to-income ratio for California was 6.06.
Home Price-to-Income Dollar Ratio: FHFA
Home Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA
Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000
California Home Price-to-Income Ratio History
| Date |
FHFA (Dollar Ratio) |
FHFA (Index Ratio) |
|---|---|---|
| December 2012 | — | 133.9 |
| September 2012 | — | 127.7 |
| June 2012 | — | 125.1 |
| March 2012 | — | 120.9 |
| December 2011 | — | 119.5 |
| September 2011 | — | 119.2 |
| June 2011 | — | 119.7 |
| March 2011 | — | 121.9 |
| December 2010 | — | 122.4 |
| September 2010 | — | 125.6 |
California Home Price-to-Rent Ratios
The price-to-rent ratio for California is determined for both the FHFA median price and the purchase only index by calculating a ratio with the median contract rent. The price-to-adjusted rent value takes into account CPS reported household size to attempt to correct for quality differences in renter and owner occupied homes. More on that process here. Again, the median price ratio is a dollar ratio and the HPI ratio is an index ratio defined to be 100 in Q1 2000. The adjusted price-to-rent ratio for California was 24.94 in June 2010.
Home Price-to-Rent Dollar Ratio: FHFA, FHFA Adjusted Rent
Home Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA
Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000
California Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History
| Date |
FHFA (Dollar Ratio) |
FHFA Adjusted (Dollar Ratio) |
FHFA (Index Ratio) |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2012 | — | — | 97.9 |
| September 2012 | — | — | 93.4 |
| June 2012 | — | — | 91.5 |
| March 2012 | — | — | 88.4 |
| December 2011 | — | — | 87.4 |
| September 2011 | — | — | 87.1 |
| June 2011 | — | — | 87.5 |
| March 2011 | — | — | 89.1 |
| December 2010 | — | — | 92.3 |
California Inferred Affordable Mortgage
The inferred affordable mortgage is determined by taking the median household income for California 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 median household income and average monthly mortgage rates. The amounts are not adjusted for inflation.
Inferred Affordable Mortgage
California Inferred Affordable Mortgage History
| Date | Inferred Mortgage |
|---|---|
| January 2013 | $300,465 |
| December 2012 | $302,730 |
| November 2012 | $302,730 |
| October 2012 | $301,595 |
| September 2012 | $297,114 |
| August 2012 | $293,454 |
| July 2012 | $295,275 |
| June 2012 | $290,573 |
| May 2012 | $286,329 |
| April 2012 | $282,519 |
| March 2012 | $281,152 |
| February 2012 | $283,206 |
| January 2012 | $282,177 |
1. Specifically, Home prices are from the FHFA seasonally adjusted, purchase only quarterly series. Rent data is from the Census ACS and income is from the Census CPS. Rent and income data for the previous year is carried into the following year for calculations prior to release of new data. ↩
Department of Numbers
The Department of Numbers contextualizes public data so that individuals can form independent opinions on everyday social and economic matters.
