Boston, Massachusetts Home Affordability
The data below measures home affordability for the Boston-Quincy, Massachusetts metropolitan area using price-to-income and price-to-rent metrics. The maximum affordable loan amount for the median household income is also calculated.
Boston, Massachusetts Home Price-to-Income Index
The current price-to-income ratio for Boston is 4.51 as determined by March 2010 Realtor median sales prices. The chart below shows a history of the ratio as an index calculated from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Boston HPI series.1 Median household income data for Boston is from the Census American Community Survey.2
Price-to-Income: FHFA
Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000
Boston, Massachusetts Home Price-to-Income Index History
| Date | FHFA |
|---|---|
| March 2010 | 117.5 |
| December 2009 | 118.3 |
| September 2009 | 117.8 |
| June 2009 | 120.1 |
| March 2009 | 122.8 |
Boston, Massachusetts Home Price-to-Rent Index
The current price-to-rent ratio for Boston is 21.51 as determined by March 2010 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Boston. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Boston median contract rent data from the Census ACS.
Price-to-Rent: FHFA
Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000
Boston, Massachusetts Home Price-to-Rent Index History
| Date | FHFA |
|---|---|
| March 2010 | 102.7 |
| December 2009 | 103.4 |
| September 2009 | 103.0 |
| June 2009 | 105.0 |
| March 2009 | 107.4 |
Boston, Massachusetts Inferred Affordable Mortgage
The inferred affordable mortgage is determined by taking the median household income for Boston, Massachusetts 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 |
|---|---|
| May 2010 | $336,532 |
| April 2010 | $328,580 |
| March 2010 | $333,469 |
| February 2010 | $332,709 |
| January 2010 | $331,198 |
| December 2009 | $334,995 |
| November 2009 | $336,918 |
| October 2009 | $334,231 |
| September 2009 | $330,072 |
| August 2009 | $325,259 |
| July 2009 | $324,163 |
| June 2009 | $317,002 |
| May 2009 | $337,692 |