Department of Numbers

Omaha, Nebraska Home Affordability

The data below measures home affordability for the Omaha-Council Bluffs, Nebraska metropolitan area using price-to-income and price-to-rent metrics. The maximum affordable loan amount for the median household income is also calculated.

Omaha, Nebraska Home Price-to-Income Index

The current price-to-income ratio for Omaha is 2.42 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 Omaha HPI series.1 Median household income data for Omaha is from the Census American Community Survey.2

Price-to-Income: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Omaha, Nebraska Home Price-to-Income Index History

Date FHFA
March 2010 103.1
December 2009 104.3
September 2009 104.7
June 2009 105.4
March 2009 105.7

Omaha, Nebraska Home Price-to-Rent Index

The current price-to-rent ratio for Omaha is 14.66 as determined by March 2010 Realtor median sales prices. This ratio is calculated using household size adjusted median contract rent for Omaha. The chart below shows an index of the rent ratio calculated from the metro FHFA HPI series and the Omaha median contract rent data from the Census ACS.

Price-to-Rent: FHFA

Note: Index set to 100 in Q1 of 2000

Omaha, Nebraska Home Price-to-Rent Index History

Date FHFA
March 2010 101.8
December 2009 102.9
September 2009 103.3
June 2009 104.0
March 2009 104.4

Omaha, Nebraska Inferred Affordable Mortgage

The inferred affordable mortgage is determined by taking the median household income for Omaha, Nebraska 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 $259,323
April 2010 $253,195
March 2010 $256,962
February 2010 $256,377
January 2010 $255,213
December 2009 $258,139
November 2009 $259,621
October 2009 $257,550
September 2009 $254,345
August 2009 $250,636
July 2009 $249,792
June 2009 $244,274
May 2009 $260,217

1. Specifically, FHFA data is from the non seasonally adjusted, all-transactions quarterly series.

2. Income data for the previous year is carried into the following year prior to the release of new income data.