Department of Numbers

Columbus, Georgia Home Affordability

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

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

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Columbus, Georgia Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
September 2011 123.7
June 2011 124.2
March 2011 129.5
December 2010 133.2
September 2010 135.5
June 2010 133.3
March 2010 131.5
December 2009 121.9
September 2009 126.0

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

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Columbus, Georgia Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
September 2011 90.9
June 2011 91.3
March 2011 95.2
December 2010 97.9
September 2010 99.6
June 2010 98.0
March 2010 96.6
December 2009 94.7
September 2009 97.8

Columbus, Georgia Inferred Affordable Mortgage

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

Columbus, Georgia Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
November 2011 $191,642
October 2011 $189,803
September 2011 $188,893
August 2011 $185,318
July 2011 $179,300
June 2011 $180,142
May 2011 $177,428
April 2011 $173,373
March 2011 $173,373
February 2011 $171,202
January 2011 $174,978
December 2010 $175,993
November 2010 $184,659

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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