Department of Numbers

Chico, California Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Chico, California 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 Chico home affordability to other cities.

Chico, California 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 Chico HPI series. Median household income data for Chico is from the Census American Community Survey.

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Chico, California Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2011 120.6
September 2011 119.5
June 2011 122.1
March 2011 125.4
December 2010 128.3
September 2010 131.3
June 2010 130.1
March 2010 133.2
December 2009 137.3

Chico, California Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

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

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Chico, California Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2011 99.5
September 2011 98.6
June 2011 100.7
March 2011 103.4
December 2010 105.8
September 2010 108.3
June 2010 107.3
March 2010 109.9
December 2009 117.6

Chico, California Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage value is determined by taking the median household income for Chico, 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 ACS median household income and average monthly mortgage rates.

Inferred Affordable Mortgage

Chico, California Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
January 2012 $220,260
December 2011 $219,195
November 2011 $218,401
October 2011 $216,305
September 2011 $215,268
August 2011 $211,194
July 2011 $204,337
June 2011 $205,296
May 2011 $202,203
April 2011 $197,581
March 2011 $197,581
February 2011 $195,107
January 2011 $199,411

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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