Department of Numbers

Salinas, California Home Affordability

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

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

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Salinas, California Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2011 105.0
September 2011 106.7
June 2011 106.7
March 2011 108.7
December 2010 114.6
September 2010 116.2
June 2010 115.0
March 2010 116.8
December 2009 108.5

Salinas, 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 Salinas median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Salinas, California Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2011 78.6
September 2011 79.9
June 2011 79.9
March 2011 81.4
December 2010 85.8
September 2010 87.0
June 2010 86.1
March 2010 87.5
December 2009 92.1

Salinas, California Inferred Affordable Mortgage

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

Salinas, California Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
January 2012 $288,347
December 2011 $286,953
November 2011 $285,914
October 2011 $283,170
September 2011 $281,812
August 2011 $276,479
July 2011 $267,501
June 2011 $268,757
May 2011 $264,708
April 2011 $258,658
March 2011 $258,658
February 2011 $255,419
January 2011 $261,053

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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