Department of Numbers

Lake Charles, Louisiana Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Lake Charles, Louisiana 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 Lake Charles home affordability to other cities.

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

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Lake Charles, Louisiana Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
September 2011 128.5
June 2011 129.9
March 2011 132.9
December 2010 129.8
September 2010 130.8
June 2010 130.5
March 2010 128.9
December 2009 119.3
September 2009 119.2

Lake Charles, Louisiana Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

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

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Lake Charles, Louisiana Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
September 2011 100.7
June 2011 101.8
March 2011 104.1
December 2010 101.7
September 2010 102.5
June 2010 102.3
March 2010 101.0
December 2009 103.0
September 2009 102.9

Lake Charles, Louisiana Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage value is determined by taking the median household income for Lake Charles, Louisiana 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

Lake Charles, Louisiana Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
November 2011 $210,731
October 2011 $208,709
September 2011 $207,708
August 2011 $203,777
July 2011 $197,160
June 2011 $198,086
May 2011 $195,102
April 2011 $190,642
March 2011 $190,642
February 2011 $188,255
January 2011 $192,407
December 2010 $193,523
November 2010 $203,052

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.