Department of Numbers

Athens, Georgia Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Athens-Clarke County, Georgia 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 Athens home affordability to other cities.

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

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Athens, Georgia Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2011 100.0
September 2011 103.2
June 2011 104.4
March 2011 104.8
December 2010 109.1
September 2010 111.0
June 2010 113.8
March 2010 113.8
December 2009 117.2

Athens, Georgia Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

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

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Athens, Georgia Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
December 2011 96.0
September 2011 99.1
June 2011 100.2
March 2011 100.6
December 2010 104.7
September 2010 106.5
June 2010 109.2
March 2010 109.2
December 2009 99.6

Athens, Georgia Inferred Affordable Mortgage

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

Athens, Georgia Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
January 2012 $213,566
December 2011 $212,534
November 2011 $211,764
October 2011 $209,731
September 2011 $208,726
August 2011 $204,776
July 2011 $198,126
June 2011 $199,056
May 2011 $196,058
April 2011 $191,576
March 2011 $191,576
February 2011 $189,177
January 2011 $193,350

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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