Department of Numbers

Fresno, California Home Affordability

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

Fresno, California Home Price-to-Income Index

The chart below shows a history of the ratio as an index calculated from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Fresno HPI series.1 Median household income data for Fresno is from the Census American Community Survey.2

Price-to-Income: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Fresno, California Home Price-to-Income Index History

Date FHFA
June 2010 125.4
March 2010 128.5
December 2009 130.2
September 2009 127.0
June 2009 132.7

Fresno, California Home Price-to-Rent Index

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

Price-to-Rent: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Fresno, California Home Price-to-Rent Index History

Date FHFA
June 2010 102.3
March 2010 104.8
December 2009 106.2
September 2009 103.6
June 2009 108.3

Fresno, California Inferred Affordable Mortgage

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

Date Inferred Mortgage
July 2010 $214,289
June 2010 $209,852
May 2010 $206,260
April 2010 $201,386
March 2010 $204,382
February 2010 $203,917
January 2010 $202,991
December 2009 $205,318
November 2009 $206,496
October 2009 $204,849
September 2009 $202,300
August 2009 $199,350
July 2009 $198,679

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.