Department of Numbers

Detroit, Michigan Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Michigan 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 Detroit home affordability to other cities.

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

Price-to-Income Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Detroit, Michigan Home Price-to-Income Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
September 2011 80.6
June 2011 78.4
March 2011 80.3
December 2010 82.8
September 2010 82.9
June 2010 81.8
March 2010 83.0
December 2009 83.6
September 2009 85.6

Detroit, Michigan Home Price-to-Rent Ratios

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

Price-to-Rent Index Ratio: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Detroit, Michigan Home Price-to-Rent Ratio History

Date FHFA (Index Ratio)
September 2011 61.4
June 2011 59.8
March 2011 61.2
December 2010 63.1
September 2010 63.2
June 2010 62.3
March 2010 63.3
December 2009 65.0
September 2009 66.5

Detroit, Michigan Inferred Affordable Mortgage

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

Detroit, Michigan Inferred Affordable Mortgage History

Date Inferred Mortgage
November 2011 $252,695
October 2011 $250,270
September 2011 $249,070
August 2011 $244,356
July 2011 $236,422
June 2011 $237,531
May 2011 $233,953
April 2011 $228,606
March 2011 $228,606
February 2011 $225,743
January 2011 $230,722
December 2010 $232,060
November 2010 $243,487

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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